To break out of a shadow
by ChronicEnd
Summary: harry was responsible for the fall of the dark lord, but due to the misconceptions of those around him lead to 5 other children claimng the glory that night while harry is forced into a life of neglect as he is forced to grow up too fast and make decisions no youth should have to. AU harry potter/to be decided ratings may change as relationships start up just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first fanfic so be nice ! Lol but still all reviews are welcome be they good or bad as long as their constructive ill happily take them. ideas comments and questions are also welcome and ill try to answer questions and such to the best of my ability.**

**Disclaimer : if I owned harry potter you would be paying me $40 to read this story**

**a/n : hey this is the first author note so yay! anyway id like to ask on your opinions on what kinda pairings for harry are good as I feel that stories should develop the love life of characters sooner . Unlike with harry and Ginny in the canon. Not criticizing per say I still love it but it is confusing when looking at the progression, after all harry sees Ginny for like 10 seconds in first year, he then meets her in second year more frequently but they don't speak much due to her crush on him and the presence of a certain diary, then in third year shes barely brought up while in fourth fifth and sixth year she doesn't seem to interact much with harry either apart from his slight unhappiness in her dating someone else and her growing interaction in fifth year. Then in seventh year they barely see each other due to harry being on the run but somehow they still get together? Not trying to anger you harry/Ginny fans but its just kinda weird there my opinions only of course.**

Left out

Chapter 1 : the prophecy 5

"The fall of the dark lord approaches"

"he shall fall to the legacies of those that have thrice defied him"

"to powers that he both knows and understands not"

"born as the seventh month wains"

"the dark lord will all but mark his defeat"

"as he curses his loss"

"the fall of the dark lord approaches"

Albus Dumbledore stood stock still as he heard the prophecy from a most unexpected source. While watching the women who had probably given the most important prophecy in the past century, Albus thought back as to the chain of events that brought him to this point.

As the headmaster of Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry, he had begun a search for a suitable divination professor after the last one had been killed in the ongoing war. After a number of completely draining and fruitless interviews he found himself at the horns of a dilemma. Divination was simply one of those skills that one had to be gifted with and could not simply be taught. And if his interviews were any indication it would seem that no one was privy to this gift anymore. In a final bout of desperation he decided to meet with a descendent of one of the mystical Oracles of Delphi.

Arriving at the leaky cauldron, he greeted the owner, Tom, before going to to meet this individual. He met her in a private room set apart from the rest, and after a few greetings began the interview with a certain Sybil Trelawney. A few minutes into the interview had him convinced that the witch in question had simply failed to inherit her ancestors talent. Moments before he decided to end the interview the witch in question stared at him with a glazed look in her eyes and began reciting the prophecy.

"it would seem that Sybil did inherit her ancestors abilities" he muttered to himself, after overcoming the shock.

Suddenly a shadow by the door caught his attention and as he spun around he saw said shadow disappear into the corridor. Upon rushing out of the room, he found himself alone in an empty corridor. He cursed his carelessness, it didn't take a genius to figure out that one of Voldermort's spies was in the leaky cauldron at the time and had overheard the entire prophecy.

The fate of the light side and the conclusion of the war rested on this single prophecy and Albus immediately forced himself to focus on the understanding of the cryptic message.

"the fall of the dark load approaches" that in itself was rather self explanatory he thought, the only dark lord present in the world now being Voldermort.

"he shall fall to the legacy of those that have thrice defied him" that was far more complicated when thinking of someone who defied him it had to be someone from the light side, seeing as most only managed to defy Voldermort once this further narrowed down his focus. Albus was still partly confused by the legacy portion of the prophecy though, what kind of legacy could it be talking about ? It was only after considering another portion of the policy that it made sense.

"**born** as the seventh month wains"

" it must be talking about their children" he exclaimed

To his knowledge only three families on the side of the light had defied the dark lord three times and were currently waiting for the arrival of their children. The first would be the Longbottom clan, the second being the Micheal's and last but not the least the Potters. Although he managed to narrow down his focus, the other two areas of the prophecy still confounded him.

"Um-"

he was brought out of his contemplations as he looked up at a wide eyed Sybil, who had apparently recovered from her trance.

"so do I get the job?" she queried. Albus simply blinked at the women, it seems that despite possessing such a gift she was completely unaware of its existence.

"of course you do my child, and allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Hogwarts family" he replied in his most grandfatherly tone.

"really!" She squealed

"oh thank you sir, you wont regret this I wont let you down."

"Although we have as of yet failed to discuss on the matter of my pay" she silently added.

Dumbledore chuckled at her joke while beginning his discussion with his new professor with regards to her pay. Unbeknownst to her though his mind was far away, pondering more on prophecies, dark lords and three different families.

31st july 1993

"ARRRRRRRRRGH"

screams of pain shattered the silence of St. Patrick's women and children hospital maternity ward. Outside the ward, Frank Longbottom paced about in worry. Looking at the clock he noticed it was already 11pm, the fact that his wife had been in labor for over an hour increased the worry he felt.

"Frank !" he turned and saw an equally worried James Potter along with three others walking to him with an equal amount of worry on their faces.

"how is she" Lily asked.

"not so good im afraid" frank replied, wincing as Alice's screams of pain once again tore through the ward.

"she'll be fine" Sirius reassured him

"Alice is probably the one of the women apart from Lily that I wouldn't worry about in this situation" James joked. Being rewarded for his joke with a smack to the head by Remus and a kick to the shin by Lily.

"Hehehe, u deserved that Prongs" Sirius chastised

"of all the time for jokes" Lily glared at her husband with a stare that could make Mad Eye Moody shrink in fear.

Frank actually chuckled at that "so how far are you along" he questioned Lily, looking at her obviously enlarged belly.

"the healers say shell be due in two weeks" as James looked at his wife of three years lovingly.

"so in two weeks it will be my turn to mock you while you worry" Frank teased, being rewarded with a chuckle from all those present apart from James.

"yeah bu-"

"FRANK LONGBOTTOM GET YOUR SORRY SELF IN HERE RIGHT NOW" Alice screamed interrupting James quip.

Minutes passed before the screams stopped and cries of a new born child. A healer walked out of the ward. "you may enter the ward now" she smiled reassuringly.

The group of four walked in to see a rather attractive woman with long brown hair holding a child with Frank standing next to her holding her and looking at his new family lovingly.

"so who's the new addition to the Longbottom clan hmmmm ?" Sirius questioned.

"meet Neville Longbottom" Alice replied proudly

"heir to the Longbottom family" Frank completed for her

the four smiled at their mutual friends, before the opening of the doors to the ward attracted their attention. Entering the maternity ward was a tall man with long white hair and beard with a grandfatherly look wearing bright purple robes with stars decorating the entire robe. James smiled at the weirdest looking as well as the most powerful wizard of their time, Albus Dumbledore.

"headmaster! What brings you here ?" Frank and James asked in unison.

"why cant a headmaster come and congratulate his students for taking the next big step in their lives" Albus smiled reassuringly.

In truth Albus had been carefully keeping tabs of the three families he felt were involved in the prophecy. The Micheal's had already given birth to a healthy young boy and girl on the same day of 31st July at 11:20, the Long bottom's had followed at 11:30. seeing as Lily was due in a week Albus came to the conclusion that the one who would defeat Voldermort would be one of these three. As all three were born as the seventh month waned the prophecy could be referring to any of them.

"ngggh"

everyone looked around as a grunt of pain caught their attention, to see Lily doubled over in pain. James immediately rushed to his wife's side.

"are you alright honey ?"

"James, I think my water broke." Lily gasped

"Nurse!" James immediately bellowed

A healer came rushing into the room "what happened" she asked. "i think shes going into labor" Albus replied". Said healer immediately called for a stretcher and brought lily into another room.

"but she's not supposed to go into labor till two weeks from now! " James exclaimed

"relax my boy, early births are very common especially for magical children, considering that your to have triplets this would not be so surprising"Albus said trying to calm the worrying soon to be father.

"Hehe, I always knew you had it in you, but triplets you've outdone yourself prongs" joked Remus.

"thanks" James mumbled, beside himself with worry.

"come now lets go watch over Lily" Sirius called

"before that, Alice Frank would you mind if I scanned Neville for his magical ability ?" asked Dumbledore.

"why?"they both questioned

"just an interest, I assure you that Neville will not be harmed in any way" Albus replied

"alright , headmaster" they answered

"_magicalus calculas_" he chanted

the spell involved measuring an individuals magic level by measuring the size of their magical core, this surprised him as after measuring the core of the two Michael children, they were already far above magical level, and to his surprise so was Neville.

"i must say that Neville has incredible magical potential and will probably be more powerful than even his father in the future" Albus commented, the smile on their faces told him that he had said something they were happy to hear.

"now ill be going to check on the potters, would you like to come along Frank ?"Albus questioned

"um, I think I should..." frank looked questioningly at his wife

"Frank Longbottom you go and make sure that my best friend is alright"Alice said forcefully.

"alright, Alice" Frank conceded.

"just breath lily, breath" James mentioned in a calm tone, while trying to hold her hand. But she wasn't going to have any of that and slapped his hand away

"DONT TOUCH ME, YOUR NEVER TOUCHING ME AGAIN JAMES POTTER" Lily screamed, as she cringed from a sudden contraction.

James looked fearfully at the healer helping to deliver his children, "she doesn't mean it, shes just in a lot of pain" the healer said soothingly.

"alright just one more push Mrs Potter" the healer encouraged. And screams of pain could be heard as the first of the Potter children came into the world. "okay just 2 more lily" James said in a supportive tone.

"REALLY JAMES I HAD NO IDEA" lily hollered at him as James cowered at his wife's glare. "GET OUT" Lily screamed as she suffered another powerful contraction. James sighed as the healers escorted him out. Walking out James noticed for men with a worried look on their faces yet with an amused twinkle in their eyes.

"you heard that didn't you" James said in a dejected manner.

"oh, it was pretty hard not to hear all of that" mused frank.

"is this pay back for what I did earlier ?" James questioned

"yup" frank replied in an irritatingly chipper tone.

"Hehehe, the great auror cowered by his wife, what would all the death eaters think" Remus mentioned. And was rewarded with a howl of laughter from Sirius.

"you guys wouldn't tell anyone, right ?" James asked, as another scream from the ward caused him to cringe.

"i think you only need to worry about me telling Severus of this incident, im sure he would enjoy himself greatly" added Dumbledore, chuckling at the horror on his ex-students face.

Soon the five men realized the screams of pain were dying down and were replaced by the cries of a new born child, or in this case new born children. The healer exited the room and "smiled at the new father "you may go in now" she said, while pointing at the door. James immediately sprang into the ward as the others followed. Upon entering the three were greeted with a most stunning sight. As they saw a sweat glistening lily cuddling into her husband with a look of absolute weariness while looking at her children with such joy.

The four men immediately began congratulating the new parents, as the healer walked forward while wiping sweat from her face "hi, im healer Emilia Terrence, congratulations to you both" she said

both of the parents looked at the healer with gratitude practically oozing out of their expressions. James decided to speak for the both of them "thanks a lot Ms Terrence-"

"Please call me Emilia" she interrupted

"alright then, thanks a lot for your assistance in this Emilia" James corrected himself.

"now, im sorry to disturb such a joyous occasion but there is still the matter of administration to complete" Emilia said as she retrieved three birth certificates from a file

"now what will be the name of your first child born at 11:40" she questioned

"Harry James potter" they replied in unison

Looking at the child in question everyone saw an uncanny if not creepy resemblance as harry looked like a perfect hybrid of James and Lily, especially those green emerald eyes that matched his mothers perfectly. "the child will probably be quite a ladies man, just like his father" Sirius mentioned,while winking at James , only to receive a swat in the arm by both a still tired lily and Remus.

"OW" Sirius exclaimed in response

"serves you right" frank said as he teased Sirius.

Upon looking at the child though their thoughts drifted away from his looks, as while his eyes made him look odd. His behavior was even more of a curiosity. While his younger siblings cried out, as was natural for a healthy new born, harry just sat there and looked at the adults. While some might fear he was mentally retarded they only needed to look into his eyes to understand exactly how bright he would be. His eyes were constantly wandering with an inquisitive fire within them as he seemed to be analyzing anything in sight often giving looks as if he knew exactly what is going on at the time.

"alright then what about the second born, born at 11:50" Emilia continued

"Charlie James potter" James replied, this time as by following tradition all members from the potter household would take their middle names from their parents first name.

"and for the last child, born at 11:57" Emilia asked as she pointed towards the last child Lily was holding,

"Rose Lilian Potter" the exhausted mother replied, as Emilia finished the forms and moved of to hand them in.

looking at the remaining two children it was obvious who their parents were as while harry was like a mixture his two parents rose was a carbon copy of lily while charlie was a copy of James. The resemblances were so strong that they were obvious even when the children were new born. The only point though was that both of the remaining two had James eyes only harry had lily's.

"may I ?" Albus gestured with his wand

"of course, professor" James replied

"_magicus calculus_" he chanted

looking at the results he couldn't help but be surprised, although rose and charlie had exceptional magical cores that rivaled those of the Michael children as well as Neville. Harry though was the surprise as he could not sense anything from him, harry was like a completely blank abyss that he could not perceive. "hes probably a squib" Albus thought to himself, unsure as to how to tell the new parents

"it seems that both rose and charlie will be incredibly powerful as they grow" he announced

both of the potters smiled at that, before a look of trepidation came to Lily's face "what about harry" she asked

"im afraid that I cannot sense anything from harry, this could mean two things im afraid either hes a late bloomer which is incredibly possible or hes a squib" Albus said apologetically, to be rewarded with a room full of gasps at the thought that the heir to such an ancient family could be a squib

"it doesn't matter" Lily responded while holding her eldest child lovingly as he stared up at her with those piercing green orbs.

"that doesn't change how we will love or raise him" James completed for his wife as she looked at him approvingly

"its good to see that you have become so mature James" Sirius remarked, while talking to a smiling Emilia. Only to be rewarded by a slap from the lady in question, "jerk" Emilia cooed as the rest of those present laughed as Sirius turned beet red.

The only one who was not laughing at the time was Dumbledore who while holding a faint smile on his face was contemplating the surprises that the day brought, as five powerful witches and wizards were born from 11:00 to 11:57 being the latest. In all honesty he had hoped that by scanning their cores he would find that one exceptional individual that would be the 'child of prophecy', as he expected the chosen one to be exceptionally powerful even in youth. But to his surprise he found five exceptional witches and wizards that could each be the chosen one, then again it could also be all of them as the prophecy itself did not mention the exact number responsible for Voldemort's fall. The number 5 also had huge importance in terms of history language and Arithmetcy. As 5 represented the five main elements along with five points on a pentagram, while at the same time maintaining religious importance as well looking at the 5 wounds of Christ in Christianity.

It was too bad then that the all powerful leader of the light failed to consult the one of the head healers present as they would have pointed out that there was another possibility involved. As they would have told him how incredibly powerful wizards might be natural Occulmens and thus would not register on the magic test that practically involved using a branch of Legillimency.

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office waiting for his two o clock appointment, after the events of 31st august 1981 Dumbledore had spent many a sleep less night and lemon drop trying to figure out the identity of the chosen one from his four supposed candidates. He had finally come to the conclusion that he would not be coming to a conclusion soon and was acting to inform all three families of the events and send them into hiding till the children could enter Hogwarts and he could figure the prophecy out then. This brought him back to his meeting now as he awaited the three families and their friends arrival. As a roar of flames from his fireplace caught his attention, he watched as the potter family of five arrived into his office followed swiftly by Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Petigrew. As they approached he greeted them and bade them to be seated.

"we just need to wait for 2 more groups to arrive" he mentioned as another bout of flames came from the fireplace. Spitting out another five individuals, David Michael s and his wife Sarah walked out of the fire place while holding their two newborns in their arms, Sean and Celia Micheal's , following them was John Corvus a close family friend. As the potters greeted the Micheal's warmly, not surprising as the families have been on good if not great terms for centuries, the Longbottom's entered the room with Frank and Alice leading with Neville in their arms and Augusta longbottom leading up the rear. After they had all turned down a lemon drop and sat down Dumbledore began his explanation of the current situation.

"greetings to you all, and let me just congratulate all of you and your families for recent events" Dumbledore started, with an amused twinkle in his eye. Said twinkle though diminished as he was forced to get down to business.

"unfortunately though this is not the reason I called you all here" he continued with a sigh. Before going into a detailed reiteration of the prophecy he had heard as well as the circumstances that had caused the chain of events that led up to him hearing the prophecy, as well as the possible interpretations of each of those lines in the prophecy. At the end of his tale and subsequent explanation he stared out at all those present as he saw gobsmacked expressions on every single one of them, he even noticed how all of the respective parents held their newborns even tighter.

"so let me get this straight ?" James spoke out breaking the silence that had fallen over the room

"you believe that the dark lord that even you, the greatest wizard of all time could not defeat, will be defeated by either our individual children, or our children as a group" he asked in a worried tone.

"that generally sums it up yes" Dumbledore replied sheepishly.

"are you on a sugar high from those lemon drops" Sirius exclaimed, lightening the mood on the otherwise dark meeting.

"im afraid not Sirius" Dumbledore chuckled

"how do you expect one or for that matter four children no matter how powerful they are to stand up to you-know-who ?" asked Darren skeptically

"obviously I don't expect them to do so till they come of age, till then the main point of this meeting comes into focus" he replied

"which is what exactly ? Asked frank

"the prophecy was unfortunately overheard by a death eater spying in the inn" Albus said while raising his hand to calm the already frantic parents " thus your children are probably targets of Voldemort" he continued as he frowned at the flinch he saw them make at the mention of his name. Sighing at their unnatural fear of a simple made up name, "so I propose all you and your families go into hiding till things cool down and when the children can be appropriately trained for either their individual or collective destinies, I suggest you all use the fidelus charm to hide as that charm is unbreakable."

"which is why I asked for those you completely trust to be present as we need to choose a secret keeper for each of you" he concluded, upon which he noticed all of them nodding in agreement all but one.

"yes Lily" Albus asked, rousing the woman from her thoughts

"i was wondering, why don't we just flee the country why go through all the trouble of the fidelus charm ?" she asked

"unfortunately I doubt Voldemort would stop due to a geographical problem, he would hunt all of you down no matter the distance you run. The best option would be for all of you to stay under the fidelus where the order can help you in your time of need. With all the wards and alarms we could be to your aid in a matter of minutes" Dumbledore replied in an assuring tone. He knew it worked as he saw lily nodding her head now.

"so on to the business of secret speakers, Darren, Sarah im guessing that john here will be your secret keeper ? While Augusta will be the one for the both of you frank, Alice. And im sure that Sirius will be the one for you James." Dumbledore concluded with all parties agreeing except for a confused Sirius.

"wait why don't you just make James Darren and Frank their own secret keeper ?" he questioned

"that's because the true power of the fidelus can only be brought out if the secret keeper is trusted with the role by those under the direct and intentional protection of the charm, not to mention the fact that the continued stay of the secret keeper in the home will lead to a weakening of the charm." Dumbledore answered

"in that case instead of me might I suggest peter here ?" Sirius proposed, warranting confused looks from all present especially peter.

"well you-know-who would probably guess that the potters have gone into hiding with the charm when he cant find them, so that means he would be hunting for the secret keeper that he will expect to be me. This way I can pull attention away from the true keeper and send him and his cronies in a confusing circle" Sirius explained.

"that would be most effective" Albus conceded.

"now I suggest that all of you stay at Hogwarts while the first charm is set up on the potter home of Godrics Hollow, then all of you can move in with them while I recuperate before setting up the Longbottom and then Michael homes" he continued, upon seeing there were no objections he stood up

"shall we go and get the first charm in place then" he said as he walked of

31st October 1993

"Crucio"

screams of pain cried out as all but one person in the room cringed in horror at the suffering of a death eater before them. That one person was the dark lord, Voldemort who sat on his throne and continued feeding power to the spell to enhance his minions suffering.

Sitting on his throne, the dark lord was dressed in pitch black robes made of the finest Acromantula silk. Looking at him, any resemblance to the once handsome student that all of the professors at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry fawned over was no more. With a face that mainly looked like a snake with deep red eyes that seemed pure evil along with a body warped by dark rituals and magic there was no longer any similarities to a human being.

Stopping the pain curse "what are you talking about Avery, what do you mean you cant find the Potters. How hard can it be to find a blood traitor and his pet mudblood"

replying in a small voice "im sorry sir but we have already scanned the entire area where Godrics Hollow is supposed to be, but we cant find it"

Voldemort almost chuckled at the discomfort his servant was feeling "im guessing that they along with those Longbottom's and Michael s are hiding under the fidelus charm, that would explain your dismal efforts at finding them"

"that was the conclusion we came to my lord"

"Crucio" screams once again tore the silence of the chamber in riddle manner, as the dark lord contemplated the situation. When he heard parts of the prophecy from one of the lower leveled death eaters whom had through sheer luck managed to eavesdrop on the old man, the dark lord laughed at the thought that children could defeat him. When he realized the significance of this prophecy though he set up a manhunt for the three families involved. Unfortunately that was when all three families went underground where he could only guess that the potters were near Godrics hallow, the Michael s and Longbottom's though he had no clue on.

Bellatrix Lestrange stepped forward to catch his attention,

"my lord"

he roused " yes Bella"

"what about Sirius Black, im sure he would be the secret keeper for the Potters" she proposed

"that is highly possible-" as his train of thought was interrupted by a large pop sound resounding outside the chamber followed by the doors opening. A dark figure in a black robe and with a white mask walked in a hunched manner towards the dark lord

"my lord !" the figure proclaimed as he got on his knees kissing the hems of his lords robes

"Wormtail what brings you here ?" the dark lord asked raising an eyebrow in the process. Looking at the shock of his other followers he chuckled, their shock was understandable. after all one of the light sides most trusted, Peter Petigrew actually spying for the dark lord was a hilarious notion. The man in question was not as loyal as many believed and was easily swayed to the dark lords side after some simple threats and promises of reward and protection.

"I bring news of the potters, Longbottom's and the Michael s" Wormtail said proudly

"all three families are as of now hiding in Godrics hollow under the fidelus charm till the other safe houses can be set up, whats more the potters have made me their secret keeper" the man practically squealed

the dark lord actually smiled at that, needless to say all of the death eaters present were incredibly disconcerted by such a rare gesture from their lord.

Still smiling he ordered "gather the inner circle, we shall go and pay these three families a visit, and your coming as well Wormtail." Wormtail actually whimpered at the idea of going into battle.

In an hour the hall was filled with over 15 of the dark lords inner circle as well as 25 of the lower level death eaters most of whom were wondering what they were summoned for.

Standing from his throne the dark lord glided towards his faithful followers. "it seems that the so called chosen ones are all hiding together with their families, I believe that it is time for us to pay them a visit and to remind the light of why they should fear the dark" he announced to the screams of triumph from his followers, before pieces of paper were passed on to all of them all of them saying the same thing.

_Godrics Hollow, Potter Cottage _

laughter resonated inside the hall as those present apparated to their destination and targets.

Potter cottage was a moderately sized home that paled in size to potter manor but still managed to hold the three families in relative comfort. The atmosphere could only be described as warm as the three families tended to the six new born extensions to their families as they chatted amongst themselves. Not realizing that forty cloaked figures had just apparated outside the cottage, Voldemort leading the assault personally this time. Smiling as he saw the cottage appear out of mid air, he waved his hand as the wards surrounding the manor collapsed and his own anti apparation and anti portkey wards appeared.

James cringed as he felt the wards fell while gasping as he looked out the windows, as all the inhabitants of the cottage looked at him with concern. "its them, their coming" he barely managed to mutter.

"what, wheres peter?" Sirius hollered

"this is no time for that, Sirius floo to Hogwarts immediately get Dumbledore and bring help, Lily Alice Sarah bring the children upstairs into the nursery then come back down. Well need everybody if were gonna survive this"James ordered. As Sirius rushed through the fireplace and the women rushed to the second floor. While those remaining, those being James Frank Remus and David rushed to the door to greet their guests.

"if we can keep them in the door we might be able to hold them off long enough" Frank encouraged

but before anyone could respond the door burst open,

"_mavri ecrixi"_

"_expulso"_

"_confringo"_

"_fillipindo tria"_

the four men bellowed, sending the curses towards the death eaters coming through the door.

Voldemort watched as a huge explosion rocked the front of the potter cottage and sent about 12 of his death eaters sprawling towards the floor, needless to say the dark lord expected they were dead. He would have been upset but considering the fact that he was targeting some of the mightiest aurors in the order of the phoenix, loses were expected. He was actually glad that he did not have his inner circle lead the attack as although he was not attached to any of them he still couldn't afford losing such highly skilled operatives seeing how replacements were difficult to find.

"watching as the remaining death eaters charged into the cottage he watched the duels that were ongoing, noticing how the four men although putting up such a good fight were about to be overwhelmed by the sure difference in numbers. He actually sighed at the waste of such potential, frank James and David all came from pureblood families after all. "such a waste of good blood" he thought silently. Watching the skill in which they dueled with his men he suddenly realized that spells were coming from the second floor of the cottage where the three women joined the conflict. Seven to twenty eight was a more then appropriate ratio to fight in, unfortunately his death eaters were not good with teamwork and thus did not use their numbers effectively, whats more they were combating incredibly powerful wizards that knew how to work with each other perfectly. Growling as another eight of his men fell to their so called targets, 2 of which actually fell to the mudblood Evans. Voldemort decided that he should enter this assault as well.

James was panting despite the fact that the attack had only happened for 20 minutes, but that was to be expected when you were dueling with so many death eaters. Taking a peak at the others he noticed how all of them were dueling at least 2 death eaters with some of them dueling 3. James was brought back into the fight as a killing curse barely missed his head. Looking at the 3 death eaters he realized he was dueling with Avery, Rookwood, and Dolohov, some of the Voldermort's fiercest generals. Refocusing his attention to the 3 James sent a concussion hex at them. Watching as the men dodged the hex he noticed Avery in a bad position "_reducto_" he shouted as Avery was blown against a wall. In the time he spent on Avery though the other two righted themselves and set cutting curses at him. With him barely dodging the more serious hits but still getting cut along parts of his body.

"_maziodecorpus_" he returned as arcs of electricity shot towards the two men both raising shields in response as the lightning struck their shields James saw the strain on faces of the two men and sent another spell at them " _mavri ecrixi" _he said as the blasting curse sent the two death eaters sprawling on the floor. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to go aid his wife when he noticed Voldemort himself making his way to the battle. James swallowed before moving to engage the most powerful dark lord alive.

The dark lord sneered at him "i must complement you on facing members of my inner circle and attaining victory potter, but unfortunately this is as far as you will go"

"_exsanguina_" the dark lord proclaimed as dark purple energies flew from his wand towards James.

"_aegis protegius_" James countered, as a sphere of golden energy appeared and absorbed the dark spell before it hit him before he countered "_avianis conjuare_" sending over twenty birds from the tip of his wand towards the dark lord.

The dark lord sneered at such an attempt "_avada kedavera_" the green spell that flew from that wand flew towards James while killing all the birds that crossed its path. James jumped to the side while sending several bludgeoning and bone breaking curses towards Voldemort "_niger flamma paries pariutus_" the dark lord countered as a wall of black flames burst forth and consumed all of the incoming spells. James followed through by sending as many spells as he could at the wall of flames. Panting at the strain while the dark lord looked completely carefree, James knew that he would not last long.

Those outnumbered defenders while fighting for their lives did not realize that one of their own was present at the battle. As Severus Snape was one of the low level death eaters that were as of now dueling with David Michael s. cursing his luck, the man in question was originally enjoying a nice bottle of fire whiskey when his dark mark began burning and he left for an unplanned death eater meeting. Upon arrival the dark lord had told them of the attack that was about to take place before they had left. This was done so quickly that he did not have enough time to warn the order. Snape couldn't help but curse as he felt a growing sense of respect for one James potter, although he disliked the man greatly anyone who would willingly duel with the dark lord and manage to hold him off no matter how brief had earned his respect, no matter their history. Looking at the other battles though Snape noticed that one of the previously downed death eaters was getting up and was sneaking up on lily and Alice. Snape saw the green light form and as it left the death eaters wand he instinctively jumped in its way.

As the duel between James and the dark lord continued a gasp from one of the other goups dueling attracted their attention, looking back they saw how a green killing curse was flying towards a defenseless lily potter, both men cried out one in despair while the other in joy, both cries though were cut short as the unthinkable happened. A death eater threw himself in front of the killing curse and shouted

"_serpensortia_" as a snake flew from said mans wand and collided with the killing curse thereby negating it. At that moment all parties stopped all forms of combat and just stared at the unprecedented occurrence.

The stunned silence was finally broken by the dark lord "SNAPE ! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING"

Upon hearing the dark lords anger Snape cursed this unknown bout of chivalry he had discovered,

" well, its far too late to say im sorry now, might as well go all the way" Snape thought to himself "im helping an old friend" he simply replied as he saw a dangerous glint in Voldermort's eyes.

"TRAITOR !" one Bellatrix Lestrange shouted, as she and some of those who had recovered from their previous shock sent curses his way.

Dodging the spells he noticed a sickly green curse flying towards him courtesy of the dark lord and threw himself out of the way he heard someone yell _sectumsempra_, and turned to notice the dark cutting curse come flying towards him. With no way to dodge, Snape silently laughed at the irony that he would be brought down by his own spell, expecting the worst he braced himself when out of no where James potter leap in front of the curse and created a light blue barrier effectively stopping the spell. At this point the battle began again, with one major difference in the form of a death eater who was now fighting against Voldemort.

Voldemort moved towards the two men in attempts to kill James potter as well as the traitor, suddenly though a nudge in the back of his mind alerted him to the attempts of someone to break through his wards, cursing, the dark lord realized that the the leader of the light along with his order where moments away.

The dark lord sneered but knew that in the condition his forces were in they would be wiped out "retreat"he ordered as he watched those still conscious activated their port keys immediately not wanting to disobey their lord. Surprising the defenders though the dark lord stayed

"_procella_ _fluctus_" he bellowed, as a wave of energy expanded from his wand, catching the defenders unawares and knocking all of them out. While the dark lord rushed to the second floor, although he would have liked to kill all of them he simply did not have the time as he did not wish for a conflict with the old fool at this time. "The death of all their children would be punishment enough for the new parents"

he smirked.

Entering the nursery, the dark lord noticed a crib with six children inside, five of whom started cryinng. Voldemort sneered as he always hated children, but paused when he noticed they were crying due to his presence. "they have the potential to be powerful wizards" he thought as he turned to look at the only child in the crib that wasn't crying. Looking at the eyes of the dark haired green eyed child known as harry potter, the dark lord chuckled at the defiance in those eyes. None may disrespect the dark lord he thought as he pointed his yew wand at the boy,cringing though as he couldn't see the boys core, how dare a squib show such defiance to me the dark lord thought.

"_Avada_ _Kedavra_" he exclaimed, as he smiled with sadistic pleasure as he saw the sickly green bolt fly towards the child. His smile faded though as the spell collided with a suddenly forming barrier. Needless to say Voldemort was stunned as the spell was supposed to be unblockable. Fear trickled into the dark lords heart, a feeling so unknown to the dark lord that he refused to acknowledge it and continued powering the spell. To his horror though Harry's eyes changed drastically, gone were the white pupils and green irises as both were replaced by a cold green mixed with midnight black. Suddenly the spell which was impacting the shield broke into two, as the magics of one side were absorbed by harry the bubble burst and the resulting wave of energy set the room on fire and knocked the other five children down. Looking at the children Voldemort noticed each of the five gained a scar as the magic impacted them, Harry also gained a scar which was healed instantly. Voldemort though was the only one who suffered implicitly as he noticed the other half of the killing curse rebounding against him and striking him in the chest , causing his body to disintegrate.

Albus Dumbledore headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry and leader of the light entered potter cottage that was now in ruins, followed swiftly by not just members of the order of the phoenix but aurors from the ministry as well. Seeing so many of their members on the floor the order members rushed to their friends, sighing with relief as they realized they were alive. While the aurors moved to detain all death eaters on the scene, medics were also arriving on the scene. Dumbledore though ran to the front of the now unconscious potters as well as to his surprise the prone form of his spy Severus Snape. "enervate" he muttered reviving all three at the same time. The three rose from their sprawled positions the eyes of one James potter and Severus Snape met as the latter took of his death eater mask. What surprised Albus though was the emotion in those eyes, it wasn't the look of contempt and hatred that he was used to in both of his ex-students eyes, but was instead one of mutual respect.

"thank you for saving Lily" James muttered

"i can only say the same to you for saving me" Snape replied in the same tone

it was then that James did what no one expected as he offered Snape his hand, Snape further surprised those present as he actually accepted it.

Lily interrupted them though as she realized where Voldemort must have went, " the children" she gasped as she ran up to the nursery, being swiftly followed by Albus, Severus, James, Sirius, Remus and the other two families. When the party of twelve arrived at the nursery they were given a sight to see as the nursery was burnt in many areas, with only the crib with the children unharmed. What shocked most though was the presence of a dark cloak filled with ashes and a yew wand in-front of the crib. Walking forward the twelve parties noticed the five children with scars on their body. The families ran to their children and began fawning over them. Harry whom lily had checked and was free of scars was placed back into the cot while the parents checked over his two siblings.

"Albus, what does this mean" Alice longbottom queried

scanning all six children again he reconfirmed his previous findings of seeing strong cores on five of the children while not getting results from only one of them. He noticed the aurors going through the wreckage as the others listened to him attentively.

"do they have scars on them" the aged leader of the light asked. Looking at the children the answer was obvious, as charlie potter had a cross scar on his left cheek, while rose potter had a straight cut across her palm. Sean and Celia Michael s shared a similar scar along their left and right shoulders in the form of a scar while Neville longbottom had a vertical scar from his eyebrow. Scanning the scars with his wand, Dumbledore was not surprised when he noticed residue magic coming from those scars, not bothering with scanning harry who was scar-less and at the time thought to be a squib, Dumbledore would miss out on the fact that harry had a much larger aura of magic on him then the other 5 children present.

"it seems that the prophecy has come true, Voldemort has been defeated" he announced as gasps of shock were heard from many in the room

"so hes gone ?" David questioned

"yes but not for long the children have to be prepared for his eventual return, but till then I give you the-children-who-lived !" Dumbledore announced to the crowd waving towards the five being held in their parents arms. As many cheered and clapped for the end of the dark lord some of whom even wen forward to shake the hands of the clearly confused children. While others moved to inform the ministry and spread the word of the wizarding worlds new heroes.

What many did not realize though was that during the cheers and such, the supposed squib harry potter just sat in the crib,left out and forgotten in the excitement looking intently at all people in the room.

**And that's the end of chapter 1 !**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! NOTHING! I TELL YOU!**

**A/N: so here's the next update, and I did it in 10 days! im so proud of myself lol. thanks to those who reviewed! Reader AZ thanks for telling me about those mistakes how embarrassing T.T but I guess that's what you get for writing at 3 in the morning. Anyway ive already corrected the errors and it will be David Michael s not Daniel. As for pairings I myself and more inclined towards Daphne for this story but I will be starting a new story with harry/fleur in the future after this one gets more developed**

**on a sad note im sorry but I wont be able to update for the next three weeks. HEY! Who threw that! Was it you ? I got my eye on you pal. Now where was I. Oh yeah, I wont be able to update cause ill be going overseas for a while but hopefully ill be able to get you guys an update by the 15th of December latest.**

**Enjoy, Chronic End**

To break out from a shadow

chapter 2: growing up

31st October 1995

2 years had passed since the fall of the dark lord, as peace and tranquility were once again restored to the wizarding world. Potter manor had become a joyous home for the new family of five as they finally came out of hiding. The manor or castle as some would call it sat on a small hill surrounded by a large steel fence in a Victorian design. The manor, which housed the potter family was now playing host to more guests today as celebrations of the fall of the dark lord exactly 2 years ago where ingoing and in full swing. Playing host were the five potters who would be joined by their closest friends and colleagues. Their ex-friend though namely one Peter Petigrew would not be joining in the festivities, the traitor in question had been the subject of one of the wizarding worlds largest man hunts ever after the fall of the dark lord. In a month the traitor had been captured hiding in a dumpster in his rat form before being thrown into Azkaban prison. Looking away from such morbid thoughts though one would notice the arrival the potters many party guests.

Lily caught sight of one of her dearest friends and rapidly moved towards her, "Alice! its good to see you here" she exclaimed before pulling her long time friend into a bone shattering hug. Soon guests began filling into the manor as the party went on full swing.

Some of the more notable guests present at the party would probably be the Longbottom family as well as the Michael s family. Ever since the horrors of Halloween 2 years ago the 3 families had grown closer together and were now constantly meeting with each other, the fact that their children shared the same birthday gave them more reason to be together.

"David, Frank its good to see you"James said with a grin on his face

"its good to see you too James" the two men replied returning the grin

" you didn't need to hold a party just because you missed us" Sarah teased James

"missed you ? Actually we just wanted to see Sean and Celia" James returned as the 3 families laughed heartily.

Apart from the families of the children who lived though there were other notable party goers arriving, such as one last surviving member of the black family. To everyone's surprise though the self claimed ladies man and bachelor actually brought a date with him who was at the moment holding his arm as they walked towards the Potters Michael s and Longbottom's. As they got closer said women looked a lot like a certain healer they had seen 2 years ago.

" healer Terrence ?" Frank and James exclaimed, while a blushing Sirius refused to look them in the eye.

" what the, how did , when did" James fumbled

" I believe they got together about a year ago" a third party put forth, turning towards said individual they noticed it was one Remus Lupin, who was now walking towards the group with a mischievous look in his eye.

" although im still confused as to who actually started the relationship"

"um that's uh-"

"come now, Sirius surely you can tell them, and please call me Emilia everyone " Emilia giggled.

"well, I kinda wanted to ask her out but I didn't know how to ask so I …..."

"what was that Sirius" asked David as he strained his ears

"i got injured on purpose so that I could get myself into the same room with her okay" Sirius answered, blushing deeply as everyone except Emilia, or Emmy as he called her, stared at him with a dumbfounded expression on their faces.

"im not sure what surprises me more, the fact that you actually did that to get a date, or that you managed to hold a relationship for a year" Lily commented, as those present laughed at Sirius insulted expression.

"never knew you were such a romantic Black" a distant voice drawled as a Severus Snape walked up to the group.

Ever since that fateful night where Snape saved lily and James saved him in return, the relationship between the marauders and Snape had vastly improved, thanks in part to the influence of Lily. After all Severus had been one of her closest friends ever. Although they would not outwardly admit it the 4 men had started considering each other as friends, but the presence of their past history still left a stain on their growing friendship despite the mutual apologies by both sides. Still the result is to be expected as it is incredibly difficult to hate someone after going through what they have, and yet past grievences did not simply vanish overnight.

"is this torture Sirius day or something" Sirius grumbled,

"i wouldn't mind taking part in such a holiday" a voice answered as three blond individuals stepped out from behind Severus.

" Cissy !" both Lily and Sirius exclaimed as they walked over while looking intently at the child in her hands.

"is that young Draco ?" James questioned

"is there any other child my wife should be holding ?" the man asked with a manic grin on his face.

"its nice to see you too Lucius" James chuckled

"indeed it is" some one else answered as Arthur Weasley and his clan of red heads approached.

As the festivities went on in full swing though a two year old was walking alone unattended. Harry was at that moment enjoying the excited atmosphere that seemed to be radiating from all the party goers. As he walked he noticed his parents with his siblings in their arms talking to several people all of whom he recognized. Looking at them he noticed how some of the party guests who saw the children who lived would start running towards them while shaking their hands in an excited manner. Harry himself knew of the different way in which people treated him and his siblings. While everyone clambered to greet his siblings with respect, harry was often ignored. While everyone kept staring as his siblings went by, he wasn't even glanced at. Needless to say harry one day decided to get to the bottom of this strange difference between the treatment the potter children faced. Although he looked like a two year old, calling harry potter a genius would be the understatement of the year, it would be akin to calling the dark lord a squib. Harry had not only incredible magical talent and ability but at the same time possessed nothing short of a brilliant mind. At the age of 2 he was already able to read and it was through such reading that he managed to figure out the huge difference between his siblings and himself. It would seem that they had defeated a dark lord when they were young or younger seeing as they were only 3 now and that was why people treated them and the other children from the Michael s and Longbottom's so well. This would be the conclusion that he came to and accepted. A crash brought him out of his musing as he noticed how charlie potter had experienced his first bought of accidental magic by blowing up a few light bulbs as he laughed heartily while . This in turn caused everyone to focus attention on him and the children who lived, as all this father tickled him. those present began congratulating his parents over the talent of their child, while others speculated as to when the four other children would show their own abilities. Looking at the mass of people near his parents talking and laughing brought a dry feeling to his throat as he decided to get a drink from the refreshments table.

It was too bad then that everyone was so focused on the 'chosen ones' as if they had spared some time to take a glance at the 'other' potter, they would have noticed how a 2 year old managed to wandlessly levitate a cup of juice towards himself.

Another two years had passed by in flash and the potter children had already begun their pre-Hogwarts schooling. Originally lily had wanted to have all of her children take part in the muggle schooling system before their enrollment into Hogwarts, her mind had been set in this instance and no ones objections to that matter were able to change her mind. Even long time friends such as Alice, Narcissa or Sarah couldn't convince her otherwise. After lily hexed Sirius and James when they tried to talk her out of it no one else, not even Albus Dumbledore tried to dissuade her and all of them decided to accept the mothers ideas. Harry honestly loved going to muggle school, it wasn't about the difference in topics that he enjoyed as he loved any form of learning. Instead it was more along the lines of the treatment the potter children received, in the muggle world charlie and rose were not considered the children who lived they were just seen as any other children. This was what contributed to harrys enjoyment of muggle school as there he was treated equally. It was not to last though as the uncontrollable boughts of accidental magic from his two siblings kept increasing and lily was forced to admit that the school wasn't prepared to handle such situations. This along with the fact that charlie and rose disliked hiding the magical world from potential friends led to lily's decision to transfer the potter children to saint Andrews magical school for the magically gifted. The school in question was one of the best schools for young witches and wizards in Britain and was at the time the school that the Michael s, Longbottom's, and Malfoy's along with other pureblood families sent their children to.

At the moment harry found himself reading under one of the trees in the schools backyard while watching the groups of mainly rich or pureblooded children enjoy their break. Looking out at the courtyard it would be possible to discern between the differing groups of children in the courtyard. As with any society a large group of people would always break down into factions, "even a society of children is subject to this" harry mused

First of all there were the children who lived faction as harry called them, which basically included Charlie, Rose, Sean, Neville and Celia with their friends. Which to harry surprisingly included the youngest male Weasley, rob or rod was his name harry couldn't be sure. Thinking about it the Weasley's must have had some financial assistance in order to send their child here.

Apart from them was the rich faction as harry called, this included one Draco Malfoy and other children who came under the rich and powerful family category. This group and the children who lived were constantly seen together as they had grown up in the same social circle. Although the two groups often spent time together but weren't completely close.

The last group was what harry categorized as future criminals, these children all came from surprisingly dark backgrounds and families. Although harry wasn't one to judge based on the family these children came from, so far they had done everything to disprove his opinions of them.

Thinking back to the factions in the school reminded harry of himself who by classification should have fallen under the children who lived faction seeing as he was related to them, but that was simply not the case. Harry was mostly seen as a weirdo by his classmates while only his siblings and close family friends talked to him once in a while. Harry under the conditions that he lived, which is ignored and neglected at times, had thrown himself into books and learning to make up for the lack of human interaction and instances of parental neglect.

Harries musings though were cut short by the sound of footsteps as he saw the future death eater group walking towards him, led by one Theodore nott. Groaning harry hated bullying with a passion as nott as his gang had somehow taken a liking to chasing harry and trying to beat him up. The other children managing to stick together in their groups basically warded of nott and his gang, who refused to try anything without a distinct advantage. Harry on the other hand who was completely alone was seen as easy pickings and thus their favorite target. Harry didn't even bother looking at them for a moment before he shot of like a bullet running to the school. From the corner of his eye he saw nott and his gang give chase. Rounding a corner out of their sight harry immediately began focusing on the roof of the school until he felt that familiar pulling feeling before he apparated to the roof. Harry sighed as he managed to sit down on the roof, "sometimes I really hate wizards" harry muttered to himself.

31st July 2000

a seven year old harry awoke on what was meant to be his birthday in a terrible mood, usually on their birthday a child would be ecstatic as they would be getting presents cakes and all that the day should entail. Harry though was not a normal child as he was brother to 2 of the 5 children who lived, this general meant that his birthdays would be shared with 5 other people. This was honestly what infuriated harry at times as even on his day on the one day where he should have gotten some attention from his family, he was still in the shadow of the five children who lived. Needless to say Harry's relationship with his family generally worsened as the years went by. As his parents inevitably began treating his siblings better, and forgetting about him in return. He couldn't really blame them though as he knew that his parents still loved him, its just that they loved his siblings more. "for every person that's favored, there has to be someone who isn't" harry darkly thought to himself. So harry had begun adopting a face of acceptance and tried his best to get the attention that he so desired. Unfortunately no matter what he did, helping his mother prepare breakfast, talking to his dad about subjects that his siblings wouldn't listen to. It seemed to harry that he couldn't compete with the defeating of a dark lord that the five chosen ones had somehow accomplished. Originally his parents had also tried to take notice of him and care for him, but like everyone in Britain they began to put more focus on his two other siblings. This eventually led to them forgetting him at times, just like everyone else in the country. Harry felt that if it wasn't for Sirius or Remus he would have been completely forgotten.

Harry remembered the last time his parents had remembered his birthday which was actually when he was 3, not to mention that that was the day he had to actually remind them.

_A 3 year old harry was reading happily in his room when he heard the tell tale signs of guests arriving for the party. With an excited grin on his face he ran down to the main hall of potter manor to take a look at the guests and the party decorations. Entering the hall he saw a huge number of people , this honestly didn't surprise him much as it was completely expected, after all it was the birthday of the children who lived. Walking through the crowd he noticed his mother speaking to Alice longbottom as he approached them he could hear their discussion about how well the food and decorations came out. As harry looked around he saw large tables filled with different kinds of food and refreshments. Looking up at the ceiling harry was stunned by the number of banners there, looking at them though he noticed how there were those wishing 'happy birthday charlie' while others wished for Celia, Rose, Neville and Sean, none of them were for harry. Raising an eyebrow harry moved towards his mother and started pulling on her pants leg. She looked down at him and smiled "hello sweety, are you enjoying the party ?"_

"_yeah" harry smiled brightly as he looked at the cakes presented on the table, the FIVE cakes on the table. Looking at the cakes he saw they had names on each of them namely Charlie Sean Neville Rose and Celia._

"_but, I was wondering..."_

"_yes ?"_

"_wheres my cake ?"_

_harry looked up at his mother who was looking at him with a dumbstruck expression on her face, taking a sideways glance at his 'aunt Alice' he noticed that she was sharing the same expression. Understanding soon came to the two women and faces which could only be described as guilty came over them._

"_w-why we were just a-about to go and bring it out harry" lily answered as Alice began nodding in agreement, before both women rushed into the kitchen._

_Harry may have been three but that entire occurrence did not completely escape him. The guilt on their faces along with the lack of decorations with his name on them pointed harry to the fact that his parents and his so called close friends had actually forgotten about his birthday. Although his mother and Alice would eventually bring out a cake from the kitchens, it was obvious that it was a rushed affair. What was more obvious to harry though was the guilty expressions that his parents wore for the whole day. Especially when the presents were being unwrapped during which, the children who lived received a huge amount of parents from their family, friends and fans "the three F's" harry thought while harry only received three, one from Sirius,Remus and his parents. Harry although enjoying the added attention that his parents gave to him, he did not enjoy seeing the look of guilt on their faces as he could tell that they were blaming themselves for forgetting him, although they should be blaming themselves harry felt that it was not something they could control. After all he guessed that they would probably forget about him in the future. Not that he could really blame them as he knew that there was an intrinsic need to faun over their chosen ones, who might not live long as Voldemort might return. So harry, not wanting to hurt his parents made a decision that day, he would do his best to make his parents proud and get the affection he so rightly deserved, hopefully not because they were guilty. Thus that was the last day that Harry's birthday was actively celebrated, seeing as that was the only time he reminded them._

"harry!"

Harry's thoughts about the past were broken as he heard his mother calling for him, putting his book away he decided to grace his family with his presence.

Walking down the stairs he was greeted by quite and interesting sight, on one hand was his mother running around trying to make sure that they had gotten everything ready, while on the other hand he saw the house elf's that reside within potter manor bringing out tables and chairs and putting up the decorations. Harry himself was really glad that the annual birthday celebrations for the children who lived was being held in potter manor this year. The three families had after all come to an agreement to move the party around yearly around the three homes of the Potters, Longbottom's and Michael s. whenever the parties were held in the longbottom or Michael home harry would always be left in one corner forgotten and bored out of his mind. At least at the potter home he only needed to show his face for a few minutes before he could go to the library and read.

"yes mother ?" harry asked as he came up behind her.

She turned around to look at her eldest "harry there you are could you do mummy a favor and help me move these presents to the table it seems that many have decided to mail their gifts this year"

"of course mother" harry replied with an altogether much too forced smile.

Walking towards the huge pile of parcels and presents harry couldn't help but grimace, it seemed that the love for the children who lived was still inherent within the British wizarding community as every year hundreds of fans who would not be attending the party mailed their gifts to the party via owl mail.

Harry grunted as he decided to get to work moving sorting the gifts out to the five before moving them to the tables his mother had allocated. After which he walked to the potter family library.

Entering the library harry felt the same serene sensation that always came over him when he came in. the potter library held books on almost all topics from both the muggle or wizarding world. Harry himself due to the neglect had thrown himself into books and learning. The fact that wandless magic was not being tracked by the ministry of magic allowed him to practice with any new forms of magic he found. Although he experienced trouble once in awhile with a certain spell after some practice he would usually be able to get it done. Even those more powerful spells that he found in the potter journals or those older books in the library were committed to memory despite the fact that he couldn't do them. He was sure that when he got his wand he would be able to do so, as the presence of a wand would definitely amplify his magical prowess. Turning his attention to the clock by the door he found that it was already 6 in the evening, that along with the noises coming from the ground floor informed harry that the party was now in full swing. Sitting down on one of the comfortable chairs in the library harry picked up the book, 'the essential mind magics' by Andrew Hoffman, he had left here last night and continued of from where he had stopped

…_...mind magics basically entails Legillimency and Occulmancy which is the process of reading and protecting minds respectively. Although highly useful both have become lost arts with only a few masters in the world. Although Occulmancy is practiced often by aurors, Legillimency has not as certain countries have labeled it a dark art. Mind magics though encompass so much more then just these two more well known branches, unfortunately the use of such magics require a huge amount of training in order to unlock. Some might not even be able to do so, however there have been naturals in mind magic that have been able to access these magics easily. The stages of mind magic though are the same for all._

_In the first stage, practitioners must master Occulmancy which is the clearing and defense of the mind, only after doing so can the practitioner move on to the second stage as this stage involves the foundation for future mind arts._

_In the second stage, practitioners must master Legillimency as that involves putting focus of their minds against the minds of others. This would be a further development of Occulmancy as the practitioner enters the minds of others._

_The third and final stage of the mind arts is probably the most unknown and yet the most useful, this involves the opening of ones mind, commonly referred to as the minds eye in certain eastern cultures. This is basically the enhancement of ones senses with ones mind and allows the practitioner to see the cores of magic within all living things, as well as heightening their perceptions to threats and dangers. In addition there have been past instances where those who practice the final stage of the mind arts have experienced a boost in silent and wandless spell casting as the full access to the mind that the final stage grants gives one access to new avenues towards their magical core. A rare usage of this art is involved in what has been known as sense, which allows users to expand their sense of self from within to effectively search an area._

_It is only when practitioners have mastered the third and final stage can they be known as masters of the mind arts, it should be noted though that being a master Occulmens and legillimens is not the same as being a master of the mind arts. Such masters though are rare and the last born master was also the last born natural mind artist, Salazar Slytherin._

As harry continued reading the book he couldn't help but feel that he was one of those mentioned naturals. Harry had put all other forms of magic on hold as he attempted to master the mind arts. It had taken him a month, but he was already confident in both his Occulmancy and his Legillimency skills. He had even used Legillimency on his parents once and found that he was able to slip past their defenses easily despite his parents training as unspeakable s and aurors. It was the last stage that was giving him trouble though as he found that instruction on this stage was almost none existent due to the lack of practitioners involved. Even this book in general was severely lacking in the instruction department as it simply mentioned how he needed to enter his mind scape and integrate his subconscious and his conscious actions to link his psyche and senses, so far he had been stuck on this for 3 months. Someone with Harry's level of genius was not used to the time he was taking to clear one task, especially a task that he was devoting all of his time to. It was while he was brooding and reviewing the text that an idea came to him as a smile crept across his face.

Going into his mind found him in a huge forest where certain creatures that he had read up on prowled around, looking around he saw basilisks and dragons with the occasional nundu. Chuckling at the weird sight harry silently chastised himself as he thought on how he had gone overboard when the book told him to imagine something defending his mind. He had let his imagination go uncontrolled and this forest with the most dangerous creatures known to wizard kind inhabiting it was the result. Sitting down harry decided to meditate again, "if meditating in the real world brought you to your mind meditating in your mind should lead you into your subconscious" harry spoke out loud as if discussing it with no one in particular.

Deciding that trying out his theory couldn't hurt harry found a nice comfortable tree to sit under as he crossed his legs and emptied his mind. Harry felt something pulling him in as if he was apparating and found himself in a familiar corridor in potter manor.

"so this is my subconsciousness ?" harry asked himself, as he began walking around exploring his subconsciousness harry found that opening doors in the manor showed rooms, some of which held memories some of which were empty. Upon entering the library, harry found that in that library was the memory of every book that he had read. Realizing that the rooms were based on how he had previously organized his mind when learning Occulmancy harry wondered what would be found outside the manor. Upon opening the door though he did not find anything and instead felt a shocking surge of magic that knocked him right out.

Harry found himself waking up to the voices of people near him

"harry"

"harry"

"HARRY!"

shooting up from the chair harry looked for the source of the voices calling to him and froze as he laid eyes upon Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. What stunned him though was not the people he was looking at but the actual action of looking, so much had changed he mused. The images he saw were sharper and clearer while he found his hearing and sense of smell could be improved as well when he focused on it enough. Focusing on the two men he stifled a gasp as he saw their magical cores for the first time.

Both man had cores that looked generally the same size, upon further inspection though Sirius's core had a more malleable and relaxed texture to it while Remus's core looked more brittle and jagged. As harry pulled his focus and magic away from his mind he felt his detail on the core dim till he could only see its size before he couldn't see it at all.

It was then that harry realized the insights he had into the core of a person also told him not just how magically powerful they were but their character and morals as well, harry also felt instinctively that if he put more power into it he could have seen their entire subconscious and psyche. Deciding that he would not want to abuse his power to such and extent harry decided to limit his usage to jut getting a slight peek at someones core. Completely pulling away his power harry felt his enhanced senses die down although that new sensation of threat detection seemed to be more passive as the feeling did not leave him.

Harry's contemplations though were cut short as the two men swept him into a huge hug, harry in turn returned them the hug with bone breaking force.

"ow ow ow, you trying to break my back pup" Sirius exclaimed

"well Sirius isn't as strong as he used to be harry you need to control your strength, the old dog" Remus chortled

"what are the two of you doing here"

"just looking for our favorite prongslet, you didn't think we would forget your birthday now did you ?"

"and we came to bring you down, charlie, rose, Neville, Sean, and Celia are about to open presents" Remus explained.

Harry let out an audible sigh "do I really have to go"

that sigh did not escape the notice of the two men. They knew that due to the celebrity status of his siblings harry was constantly forgotten by his parents and the families close friends, even they were subjected to this. Harry although having accepted this and was trying to make the best out of any bad situation was still a child. And it pained him to be reminded that his birthday had been forgotten.

Sirius smiled weakly at harry "come on pup cheer up Remus and I bought you presents" as he dangled the package in question in front of harry temptingly.

"we would love to just spend time with you here but if they realize were not there could come looking for us" Remus added

"alright, but I get to open my presents first"

"deal" they both answered simultaneously. While Sirius handed his present to harry, who began shaking it and looking at it intently.

"stop stalling and open it already" Sirius exclaimed, even more excited then harry.

"alright alright" harry grumbled as he tore the wrapping paper open and saw a black box made of mahogany and with a clasp in the center. Upon releasing said clasp the lid of the box flipped back and harry saw a silver watch. Harry had never seen one quite like it as he felt the smooth silver with his fingers. The watch was completely covered in spiral carvings as the lines seemed to move constantly also in the background of the watch face behind the minute and hour hand it seemed to show the sky during the time of day, even that seemed to be moving.

"i love it" he breathed

"it used a be a normal watch but I upgraded it"

"i can see that"

"its been enchanted to be unbreakable and it is able to work near magic, and it will re-size with you as you grow. Finally I made it so that the carvings on the watch and the images on the watch face can move, also the watch face will always show you the sky at the time of day as well as the weather"

harry smiled at him and gave him a hug as he thanked him profusely. While Remus stepped forward and presented harry with a present that was shaped a lot like a book. Harry smiled as he took the present from Remus and began unwrapping it carefully. Looking at the book he received he smiled and nearly squealed in delight as he saw the title 'A beginners guide to magical languages'

"i knew you had a growing interest and after you picked up gobbledegook so quickly I couldn't resist"

"thanks, I love it" harry smiled as he walked to his room to put his new book while he put on his new wrist watch. Looking back at his two favorite 'uncles' he sighed

"okay lets go"

arriving at the main hall of potter manor, the trio were met with quite a sight. A huge crowd of people were surrounding 5 children as cheers, laughter and all around raucous behavior occurred through out the hall. As the two men brought harry further up front harry was greeted with quite a sight as he saw the older Longbottom's pass out five similar boxes.

"come on open them" while he could barely contain his excitement while his father gave him a slightly disapproving look before smiling. As the five children opened a their respective boxes they each got a different colored quill pen, while they looked in a befuddled manor at the adults.

Frank smiled slyly "its-"

"a special quill that writes out what thoughts you have without you having to touch it" Alice completed, smiling while her husband gave a pout due to his being interrupted and his limelight being stolen, before giggling at her husbands disappointment. Needless to say all the children smiled at the possible applications of the quill as far as homework was concerned. A groan though escaped from the crowd as lily gave Frank and Alice an incredulous look.

"why on earth would you give them something like that, how am I going to get them to do their homework with their hands now ?" she exclaimed, as laughter rocked the hall. Harry sighed and stood there stoically as he watched the gifts being passed out, he may have smiled when his siblings and their friends got a rather nice present but overall he didn't like being reminded that he had been forgotten, especially now on his most important day. So he just watched as the Malfoy's Weasley's and other families passed their gifts and well wishes to the children who lived. His interest though was perked when he saw what could only be described as an incredibly beautiful girl pass a gift to Celia. Harry began tapping Sirius on the leg trying to get his attention.

"what ?"

"whose that girl that's giving Charlie a present"

"hmmm, oh that's Daphne Greengrass, shes the heiress of the Greengrass family." he mentioned lackadaisically.

"why, is my little harry growing up, showing interest in the other sex so soon ?" he teased

"oh shut up" harry grumbled Sirius began laughing at Harry's expense

then, most unexpected person stepped forth from the crowd wearing a bright silver robe that looked like it had sequins sewed on, the only person weird enough to dress like that was Albus Dumbledore. Stepping forward the headmaster brought with him 5 boxes that looked a lot like the ones the Longbottom's gave the children. Opening the boxes though the children found it was completely different to the Longbottom's gift. As the party goers took a peek into the box, sounds of surprise came from the crowd. In each of these boxes held 5 identical wands.

Albus smiled at the dumbstruck faces of the five children and their parents. "it has come to my attention that the children have been experiencing greater frequencies of accidental magic, that is a clear sign that their magic is blossoming and I thought it would be time for them to start their magical training, before they blow a house up"

the crowd laughed at the intended joke as Neville longbottom blushed from the memory of him blowing out the magical schools windows.

"whose going to be their tutor" David asked, honestly curious

"why I will my dear boy, I believe that I can start next week onwards" Albus replied with that all to familiar twinkle in his eye, as the crowd gasped. Personnel training with Albus Dumbledore ? There were people in the ministry who would have killed for the chance.

Harry though took all of this rather negatively, after all while the children who lived experienced boughts of accidental magic harry was already doing perfectly controlled wandless magic. Once again it would be another situation of harry being overshadowed not because of a difference in ability but due to the presence of a simple title. Harry frowned as he thought of ways to get himself into those lessons as well, his frown would deepen though as he continued to shoot down possible ideas. The deepening frown though did not escape Sirius or Remus, who both put a comforting hand on one side of Harry's shoulders.

"you okay, pup" Sirius questioned

"yeah im fine" harry answered with an altogether much too forced smile, before he returned to his stoic expression of watching others open their gifts.

soon though the presents were unwrapped and the party went back into its previous state, harry was about to leave when he heard someone calling for him, turning around he saw his god fathers girlfriend walking up towards them a huge smile plastered on her face, leaning in, she gave Sirius a chaste kiss on the lips before smiling at harry

"so hows your birthday going so far ?"

"I've had worse" harry replied simply, not noticing the pained looks from the two marauders and Emilia, they still felt really guilty for forgetting his birthday last year despite the fact that he had forgiven them.

"i hoped you liked the watch"

"of course I did its beautiful"

"im glad you did" she said as she flashed him a motherly smile, soon though someone else from the crowd began calling for her and she moved of from the trio, but not before engulfing harry in a huge hug and kissing him on the forehead, to which he only scowled at her. Watching her leave though harry couldn't help but ask

"so, when are you going to ask auntie em to marry you"

Sirius frowned at his god son, "you cant just ask these kinds of things out of the blue you need to wait for the right time"

"you've been carrying that ring around for a year, not to mention the fact that you've been dating for six years and living together for two years" Remus added

"talk about fear of commitment" harry continued

"a seven year old shouldn't even know what that phrase means" growled Sirius, before he hurriedly ran away from the two of them.

Harry smiled at his god fathers retreating back before saying good bye to Remus and walking back to his room, where he picked up his new book and began reading it almost obsessively.

31st august 2004

harry smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror on what is to be his eleventh birthday,harry found a long messy haired youth looking back at him . Harry had made the decision to keep his hair long for the sole purpose that it covered most of his face and managed to divert attention from himself. To harry this became a necessity after a rather unpleasant experience when he was 9, at the time he was walking with his family when he was pulled aside by members of the crowd who were asking him why he was stalking the potters, it was then that he decided to keep a lower profile if that was even possible. Harry knew that most of the wizarding didn't know about him but that was just ridiculous. What made it worst was that Sirius had found out and made it his attempt to bring it up for the following week to tease harry. Studying the mirror closely harry felt pleased with the transformation of his body, honestly he was always fit thanks in part to the running he had to do on a near daily basis to escape nott and his group. But after reading that the physical body was just important to magic as the magical core in one of the potters old tomes harry began putting more effort into it. The results spoke for themselves as Harry's body had gotten far more muscular, although his desire to wear baggy clothes seemed to cover most of the changes, so only Sirius and Remus knew of his training.

As far as magic was concerned though harry was incredibly pleased with his progress, with nothing to else to do and no one else to talk to harry had nothing distracting him so he threw himself into books and studies. In fact the only area where he was upset as far as his learning was concerned was with Dumbledore and the others 'private lessons' harry himself tried to convince his parents and the old man that he could benefit from those lessons as well, but the 3 had actually the nerve to tell harry that they suspected he was a squib, just because they never saw harry show any instance of magic. "not how you would want to break such news to a child" harry thought sarcastically, but any time he tried to correct them they would not listen to him. So harry had thrown himself into his magical studies with more fervor and had even made it a point to 'listen in' on their lessons, which he found was actually far behind his actual progress, but he still listened in from time to time. After all, when else could you get a lesson from the worlds most powerful wizard.

With one last glance at the mirror, harry left his room and went down to help with breakfast. Harry upon entering the kitchen noticed that his mother had yet to wake up and began helping the house elves to prepare breakfast. Although the house elves had at first tried to keep his mother and himself out of the kitchen, they eventually gave into their desires. Harry actually found the house elves to be great company and would usually spend time talking to them.

"so what are we making today tilly ?"

"we is making pancakes bacon and eggs for breakfast today master harry ?"

harry smiled at the elf before starting to take out the eggs and bacon from the fridge. Soon though he heard his mother enter the kitchen and sit near the counter

"morning mum"

"good morning sweety"

"coffee?"

"yes please" as harry poured lily a cup he smiled slyly at tilly who was trying to beat harry to lilys cup but failed

"let me help you with that harry"

"sure mum" harry smiled, as the two began setting up breakfast with the elves harry honestly loved these moments as it was just his mother and himself, it was one of the rare moments where harry had his parents undivided attention. Unfortunately those moments didn't last long as they just brought the food to the table, harry saw rose walk into the dining room with a sleepy look in her eye.

"happy birthday sweety" lily exclaimed with a bright smile on her face as rose returned the smile.

"harry could you finish helping tilly and wippy set the table, your father and brother probably need me to go and wake them up"

"sure"

as lily left the kitchen, rose and harry were left alone as the elves scrambled to get every thing ready, where rose sat at her normal seat harry began setting the table as he stole a glance at his sister. In all honesty she looked exactly like his mother did when she was 11. harry guessed that Sirius's idea of calling charlie and rose carbon copies of their parents was not of the mark, as harry had black hair and green eyes. Charlie inherited James black hair and brown eyes, while rose inherited lily's red hair and James brown eyes. Harry smiled as he heard his mothers shouts at his brother and father to awake.

"happy birthday" he said absentmindedly

"thanks" his sister chirped in reply

"i cant wait to get my Hogwarts attendance letter !"

"im sure"

"when is it supposed to arrive ?"

"professor Dumbledore said it would probably arrive during breakfast, so soon I guess."

"so have Celia, Sean and Neville gotten a letter yet ?"

"im not sure they said they would come over after breakfast"

"i see"

the duos conversation was interrupted though when their brother entered the kitchen with a scowl on his face.

"why cant I just sleep in on my birthday" he grumbled

"you don't want to miss getting your letter do you" harry asked a small smile visible at the corners of his mouth

"i guess not"

soon, lily returned to the kitchen with a half asleep James in tow.

"now then why don't we have some breakfast before the rest arrive, hmmm ?" she asked cheerily, as her family agreed.

Soon the potter family sat down for breakfast as the two parents asked their children if they were excited for Hogwarts. This conversation, harry found highly amusing as he knew that the adults did not expect him to get into the magical school as they still thought of him as a squib, and he was simply waiting to prove them wrong. As the breakfast continued though the potters were no longer alone as other families began coming through the floo. First to arrive was the black family, as Sirius and his new wife and child of 3 came into the dining room, followed by Remus, the Michael s and the Longbottom's. Soon the conversation came to Hogwarts and charlie and rose were incredibly excited about their acceptance into Hogwarts.

"now I wonder who those owls flying outside are for" David commented dryly, as rose and charlie became even more excited as one owl each flew in-front of them, everyone watched as the two children giddily took the letter from the owls and began reading them, before talking excitedly with Sean Celia and Neville about their letters and the upcoming trip to diagon alley. All the excitement stopped though as a third owl flew through the window and landed right next to harry, who in turn scratched its neck affectionately before feeding it some bacon and reading his own letter.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WHICHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

UNIFORM

_First-year students will require:_

_sets of plain work robes (black)_

_plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

COURSE BOOKS

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)  
by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi  
by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them  
by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection  
by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

Students may also bring an owl, a cat, a toad or a rat.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

As he finished reading harry suddenly became aware of the complete silence that encompassed the previously rowdy room while everyone stared at him, hiding a smirk, harry already knew what they were thinking as he put on his most innocent face possible

"what ?"

**and that's the second chapter I really liked how it turned out despite it being all over the place in terms of events. Anyway for those of you who would like to know, harry is not abused, just slightly neglected, his parents treat him well but when his siblings come into the picture they have a tendency to forget about him.**


	3. Chapter 3 : first friends

To break out of a shadow

**A/N: hey im back and im posting on the 14th as promised, now we have much to discuss in this authors notes so bear with me those not interested can just skip it LOL. **

**Now where was I ah yes, now some of you have been commenting that Harry's relationship with his parents should be characterized as 'abuse'. Now based on oxford dictionaries abuse is defined as the treatment of someone with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly. In my story Harry's parents neglect him but they still treat him as their son when they do remember about him, like when they first forgot about his birthday and he reminded lily, if this was a case of abuse she wouldn't have cared or would have physically abused him, instead she tried to scrounge up something to make him think she didn't forget. Ill admit though it does make sense that Harry's a bit to well adjusted, but I guess I could play that off as the influence of Sirius and Remus keeping him somewhat normal. Not only that but Harry has shown some idiosyncrasies that points you to the fact that hes not completely normal such as his extreme dislike for his own birthday, which is freaky in itself or his slight obsession with getting their approval. Now others say that Harry's lack of resentment of his parents is weird and I agree completely, trust me as the story develops Harry will stop caring about his parents and move on with his life. Thus the title to the story to break out from a shadow, the story was after all meant to show Harry's journey out of his siblings shadow but at the same time his time combating the problems that he has acquired. Such as in this chapter where he starts to overcome his isolation and meets his first friends.**

**another point one of you awesome reviewers have brought up is from sanbeegoldiewhitey I believe, who said that there are too many children who lived. I must say that I slightly agree with you but I have some plans for the 5, after all Dumbles does need some people to send after the horcruxes doesn't he ? Harry's interaction with them will be limited though until second year when everyone starts taking note of him.**

**Now that ive said my two cents worth on with the story, for being such a great crowd here's n extra long chapter with 10800+ words not including the A/N of course. ON WITH THE STORY (whips imaginary horse)**

to break out of a shadow

chapter three: first encounters

"Harry come on we have to leave now if we want to beat the crowd there."

"Coming."

Harry spared one last glance at the book he was reading before deciding to run for the stairs, he had been waiting for this day since he got his letter, the three families had decided to meet at the leaky cauldron before doing their shopping together, it would have to be done on the weekend though as James Frank, David, and Sirius had to work on the weekdays and couldn't take any leave. At times Harry didn't understand why his father and god father wanted to work with the ministry as aurors in the first place, after all the black vaults alone would probably be able to last the whole Potter and black family a few more generations worth of luxurious living without accounting for the profits from the investments the Potter vault only more so as it was even larger then the blacks was. Harry decided that the men probably needed something to take up their time and decided that catching dark wizards was a suitable pass time.

Walking down the stairs, Harry spotted his sister and mother already dressed and waiting to go, Harry could tell that the excited gleam in their eyes was more about being able to go shopping then anything else. Looking at them he couldn't help but smirk inwardly at the shocked looks of those around him when he had gotten his letter a few days prior.

"_What ?"_

_His parents, siblings and their friends had stared at him for a good two minutes before he was forced to_ _ask them again to get their attention. Harry saw looks of shock, astonishment and downright confusion coming from the group._

"_But I thought you were a squib ?" charlie asked with a confused expression on his face_

"_How hurtful." Harry remarked with a smirk, as charlie blushed deeply at his callousness._

"_But ive never seen you perform any kind of accidental magic before." rose added_

_Harry had been expecting such a question and as he was unprepared to tell them of his power had decided on a believable story to tell._

"_I'm not surprised its only happened once or twice, the first was when I just started helping mum and the elves cook I remember burning myself on the stove. It had hurt a lot and I kept hoping the pain would go away, when I opened my eyes I noticed it didn't hurt anymore and the scar was gone as well." Harry answered with a smile. It wasn't a lie, as he had healed himself when he had first been burned its just that he did it intentionally instead of using accidental magic._

_The group seemed to accept that story and congratulated Harry on his successful acceptance, his parents also swept him into a hug as they gave him their congratulations._

"Honestly wheres your father and brother ?" his mother asked irritably, interrupting his thoughts.

"I think I saw charlie in the toilet im not sure about dad" rose answered

lily let out a sigh "Those two..."

Harry shrugged "Why don't we just wait for them im sure they wont be long." seeing their agreement Harry sat on the sofa and waited for his father and brother. After ten minutes his father walked into the room with his brother following behind him.

"Shall we ?" his father asked calmly, although anyone who knew him could tell that he was extremely excited and was at the time.

"Its about time" rose muttered as Harry covered his mouth to hide his giggling. Shooting her daughter an amused look, lily took a handful of floo powder and entered the fireplace

"Diagon Alley" she called as she disappeared in a burst of green flames.

Rose followed her mothers example and disappeared in another burst of green flames. After his sister, Harry walked into the fireplace with some floo powder in his left hand

"Diagon Alley" he called before he too disappeared in a burst of flame.

Stumbling out from the fireplace, Harry found himself in the leaky cauldron. Hearing the roar of flames continuing Harry didn't need to turn his head to know that his father and brother were behind him. Approaching his mother, who was at the time talking to Alice longbotTom. Harry noticed Sirius and Emilia standing with the group and he rushed to approach them.

"Hi Sirius, Auntie Em."

Emilia frowned at Harry "How many times have I told you not to call me that !"

"Why does it make you feel old ?"

"Kind of."

"That's why I call you that." Harry giggled as Emilia swatted him in the arm

"Ow!"

"Cant say you didn't deserve that Harry." Sirius teased

"Yeah yeah" Harry sighed. As Sirius took a look at Harry, looking at his god sons clothes Sirius frowned.

"Why do you keep wearing such big clothes ?"

"Cause their comfortable" Harry replied simply, as Sirius sighed in exasperation. Harry's clothes and hair had been a constant area where they argued as Sirius, Remus and Emilia had tried to get Harry to cut his hair shorter and wear better fitting clothes, but the youth had so far refused.

Soon the Michael s would arrived and the party would walk through into diagon alley. Upon entering the alley though they were immediately swamped by the fans of the children who lived. The crowd was so excited to see their saviors that they pretty much blocked the entire way. Five minutes passed with the group being unable to move more then 6 meters. This matter was made worse when the reporters arrived on the scene, soon the group was being harassed by not only people but flashing lights as well. As the people seemed to not notice how uncomfortable they were making their saviors and their families feel. Harry saw this as a perfect opportunity and made his way to his mother and fathers side.

Pulling on their hands Harry finally got their attention as they looked at him while still trying to chase the crowd away.

"What ?" they asked.

"Mum, dad could I go on ahead I don't really care for all the noise and lights."

"None of us do Harry" James smiled consolingly,

"I don't know..." lily said with a frown.

"Come on, I can take care of myself and ill meet up with you once im done." Harry pleaded

"Alright, I guess your more trustworthy with your money then your siblings." lily chuckled

"Just be careful, okay ?" she said, as she pulled a Gringots key with the Potter crest on it and passed it to Harry

"Kay." Harry replied happily before taking the key and making his way away from the crowd.

Harry smiled as he made his way down diagon alley, and as he came up on Gringots bank he couldn't help but stare wide eyed at it. No matter how many times he had seen it the bank it self had always instilled into him a deep sense of awe. The building was made from marble and looked as if it had just been cleaned, not to mention that the place in question had rather impressive golden gates, the gates were only made more impressive when looking at how the gates were guarded by two goblin warriors. Entering the foyer of Gringots Harry couldn't help but stare again as the entire place was made from solid gold, needless to say it made for an impressive sight. Finding a teller without a queue Harry went in-front of the teller and tried to get his attention.

"And what do you want ?" the goblin growled

"_Greetings kind sir, im Harry Potter, I was wondering if I could make some queries about my trust vault and investment opportunities._" Harry replied respectfully in gobbledegook.

The goblin stared at the youth in-front of him, not only was it rare for a human to speak their language. But never in all his years in the bank had he seen one so young speak the language so fluidly, not to mention the respect he had showed towards a goblin was unheard of.

"_Ah of course please follow me master Potter, by the way please call me snaggletooth._" the goblin replied. With an added sense of respect in his voice.

"_please call me Harry, master Potter is far too formal for my tastes._" he chuckled

Following the goblin in question, Harry found the inside of the bank to be completely different then the lobby, he himself had never been through here so it was a new experience for him. The walls instead of gold were made of what seemed to be black granite as were the floors. Entering a room that was furnished rather comfortably the goblin told Harry to take a seat as he went to get someone who could help him.

Waiting in what Harry admitted was a very comfortable chair Harry began inspecting his surroundings in greater detail. He noticed that apart from the chairs and tables in the room there really wasn't anything else there.

"Not the kind to decorate hmmm." Harry chuckled to himself, as he heard the door open once again and several footsteps sound behind him. He turned to see who had entered and noticed snaggletooth as well as 2 other goblins enter the room. One of those goblins though was dressed in a far more expensive style with clothes that were made of Acromantula silk,

"_Harry this is director Ragnok, head of Gringots bank_." snaggletooth introduced while pointing to the expensively dressed goblin. Harry's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline at the revelation, before calming himself, he bowed low.

"_Its a pleasure to meet you director Ragnok, im Harry Potter._" looking up from his introduction Harry noticed the looks of surprise from two of the goblins while snaggletooth smile knowingly at Harry.

"_Did I do something wrong _?" Harry asked, still confused from the reactions of the two.

To his surprise Ragnok laughed heartily "_Of course you didn't mister Potter, you must understand that it has been decades since ive met a wizard who spoke our language and centuries since a wizard actually bowed to a goblin no matter the rank_."

"_Ah I see, and please director call me Harry_."

"Of course Harry, now come and sit I believe that you are here to talk about your accounts" as the four sat around the table Harry looked curiously at the third goblin who placed a large file on the table

"_I am, actually, I know that as a member of the Potter family I have a trust vault but I don't know what that entails and I was hoping you could tell me_"

"_Of course, Harry this is Griphook, hes the financial manager of the Potters and by default yours as well_" Ragnok added while pointing to the third goblin.

Harry smiled and extended his hand "I_ts a pleasure to meet you Griphook._" the goblin smiled before accepting the hand shake.

"_The pleasure is all mine Harry, now I believe that you came to inquire about your trust vault, am I correct ?_"

"_Yes._"

"_Well, a trust vault as you know is set up for all the children of a wizarding family when they are born. From birth, a fixed amount of about 1000 Galleons annually, the Potters though being far richer then most have a larger amount of 3000 Galleons put in annually. So right now you have around 33,000 Galleons in your trust vault._"

"_So, I could do anything with the money in the trust vault ?_" Harry inquired

"_yes you could"_ Griphook replied calmly, but with a hint of curiosity in his eye

"_In that case would it be possible to transfer 23,000 galleons and half of any future inputs into my trust vault into a separate vault."_

"_It is possible, although there will probably be about 10 to 20 galleons worth of administrative fees to pay."_

"_That's fine ill pay the fees."_

"_May I inquire as to why you would make such a transfer Harry ?"_ Ragnok asked

"_well I was hoping to set up a vault for investment purposes,and the new vault would be the start of that."_

"_I see, and what would you like to invest in ?"_ Ragnok asked curiously as snaggletooth and Griphook listened intently.

"_Well I was hoping to defer to you in this case."_ Harry replied slyly, as he caught the surprised looks on the goblins faces.

"_What do you mean ?"_

"_I was hoping that I could ask for your aid in handling any and all investments I make with that new vault." _Harry answered

Ragnok laughed again _"What a day this has turned out to be, I meet the first respectful wizard in centuries and at the same time the same wizard actually trusts us to handle investments."_

"_I don't really understand the laughter there."_ Harry commented dryly

"_You must understand Harry, the wizards now do not trust us at all and refuse to let us handle their investments the last wizards who allowed us to do so died 300 years ago"_ snaggletooth explained

"_That's rather stupid, they trust you to keep their money safe but not to invest it, I thought goblins were incredibly able in terms of money and finance."_

"_We are but the trust issue has always been a problem with wizards."_

"_Well, I trust you so I guess well have no problems then."_ Harry said as he smiled warmly at the three goblins who smiled back

"_As for your investments, would it be okay if we were to invest in the muggle economy as well ?"_

"_Whats the difference ?"_

"_We find that the muggle economy makes more profits as the market is obviously larger due to population differences, but some wizards don't believe in doing so."_ Ragnok explained,

"_Well ill let you guys decide on whats best then, I don't really have much knowledge in this area after all."_ Harry commented

"_Of course Harry, although to start up the account would take some time, so well mail you your new key, is there anything else ?" _Griphook asked

"_Yes I need some money from my trust vault to shop for school supplies"_

"_Well we do have a pouch that you can use to access your funds easily, would you be interested in __that ? "_ Griphook asked

"_That does sound more convenient then coming to get money from the bank every time I need to buy something."_

"_We would need a payment of 10 galleons though,"_ informed Griphook

"_I think that would be alright"_ as he noticed snaggletooth walk out of the room, he assumed to get him a pouch. When the goblin returned he passed Harry a little brown pouch that looked pretty bland.

"_You will need to put some blood in to activate it."_ Griphook explained as he passed Harry a small knife.

Harry accepted the knife with thanks as he did as instructed, as the blood entered the pouch he noticed how the brown pouch now held the Potter crest on the front.

" _Well I think that settles our business here."_ Ragnok said as he stood up from the chair as Harry, Griphook and snaggletooth followed him out of the room

"_I hope to see some profits from investments in the future."_ Harry joked slyly

"_Profits are to be expected when you work with us Harry."_ Ragnok replied with a mischievous grin, which unnerved Harry slightly.

"_May your vaults overflow and the rivers flow with the blood of your enemies." _Harry greeted, as Ragnok smiled and returned the well wishes. Before Harry was escorted back out to the lobby, upon reaching which Harry waved good bye to Griphook and snaggletooth who in turn waved back to the surprise of the wizards in the bank.

Upon exiting the bank Harry strolled along diagon alley while referring back to his list of school supplies, deciding to save the best shops for last Harry made his way through the apothecary to purchase his potion supplies as well as the set of scales and cauldron, although he did order an extra set of supplies. 30 minutes later and he had gotten most of the more boring items, stepping into madam malkins shop for robes of all occasions Harry found himself being measured by a rather small women who at the same time began measuring him with a smile on her face.

"Hogwarts deary ?"

"Yes" he answered simply as she finished measuring him and began writing the details down on a piece of paper. Harry made a move to stop her though

"um..."

"yes ?"

"Could you make the clothes slightly bigger ?"

"I could but why would you want to do that ?" she asked curiously

"I like it that way its more comfortable." he answered with a reassuring smile on his face

"Alright I guess I could make them slightly larger." she agreed as she began changing some of the details she had written down

"What kind of material would you like for the gloves ?"

" Dragon hide would be nice."

"That will be 15 galleons and 12 sickles, you can come back in an hour to collect your purchases." she said

"Alright" he answered as he withdrew the money from the pouch and passed it to her"

exiting the robes shop Harry decided to head into the trunk store as he was getting tired of lugging his purchases around in their bags. Upon entering the store he was greeted by a rather old and yet very tall old man

"and how may I help you lad, here for a trunk I take it, what kind would you like ?"

"I'm not really sure what kind of trunks there are." Harry answered apologetically.

"Not to worry lad ill give you a brief run through, well there are obviously normal trunks that hold no enchantments at all. Then there are trunks that are enlarged on the inside, some can even hold rooms like libraries. Then there are those that are protected with special wards that are keyed in with passwords that you can set your self. Needless to say that those that are more special will cost more"

Harry thought over the mans words silently, the expanded room and library would definitely suit him as he felt like bringing some books from Potter manor to school to continue his reading, plus the added level of security never hurt anyone.

"Could I get a trunk with that expanded library you mentioned and could I have the other compartments compartment expanded as well ? I would also like the trunk to be warded for security."

"I could do all that rather easily, what level of security would you like for the trunk ? I would suggest going all the way if you had the galleons to pay for it. After all there's no point in doing these kinds of things halfheartedly." the old man pointed out, an opinion which Harry wholeheartedly agreed with.

"I think your right, I guess I should go with that."

"Would a mahogany trunk that was black suit your tastes ?" the man asked with smile

"i think it would, so how much would all of this cost" Harry asked

"Hmmmm, well the trunk itself along with the enlargement charms and the library wouldn't be too bad, along with the wards though your looking at around 130 galleons." the man answered as Harry whistled at the price, but still withdrew the money and payed the man.

"Now give me a minute to get you your trunk ."

ten minutes later Harry left the store with a trunk being pulled along behind him, as he made his way to flourish and blots as he purchased the books needed for school from first to seventh year for all subjects, although the cashier did give him odd looks at the sight of the books he managed to purchase them without much trouble.

He then made his way to the magical menagerie and as he entered the shop and made his way around looking at the animals on sale, he spotted black rats and a whole assortment of owls as well as a jewel encrusted tortoise. Nothing really caught his eye though and as he was making his way out when he noticed a pure white owl in a cage through the door in a separate room, Harry couldn't help but go in. as he got closer to the cage, the owl which was originally hunched in a corner, looked up at Harry and tilted its head as if to say 'why hello there'. Harry opened up the door to the cage and the owl flew to his outstretched arm as he began to stroke it the owl hooted in delight as Harry continued stroking the bird with a fascinated expression on his face. His thoughts were interrupted though as the owner came into the room.

"Hey kid you shouldn't get to close to that cage the owls really-"

"What are you talking about, shes rather passive if you ask me" Harry interrupted as he continued to stroke her as she began leaning into his hand.

"Incredible !"

"What are you going on about ?" Harry asked

"That my boy is not a normal owl, it is one of the rarest magical snowy owl species in the world. I managed to find a young one and I practically raised her, her temperament towards humans though makes her rather testy towards us. I raised her for 2 years and she can barely stand me, and yet she seems to like you a whole lot, simply incredible."

"So how much do you want for her."

"Shes magical, and even I don't know what she can do, so that would usually make her expensive, but I wouldn't be able to sell her to anyone in the first place, why don't you just take her for a normal owl price 13 galleons. Ill even throw in her cage." the man offered,

"Okay, but here's 14 galleons ill take some owl treats as well." Harry said as he passed the man the galleons he attempted to put her back in the cage but she promptly refused and flapped her wings strongly before resting on his shoulder and pecked him on the side of the head.

"Alright I get it you don't like to be in the cage." Harry said in an exasperated manner as the store keeper chuckled at the sight before passing him 3 boxes of owl treats.

Harry placed the cage in his trunk before exiting the shop after giving his thanks to the store owner who simply smiled back at him before waving him off.

Harry then made his way to his second last and yet most exciting store, Ollivanders wand store. While walking to the shop he began thinking of a name for his new owl.

"how about Ellie" Harry asked as the owl just stared at him

"alright you don't like Ellie, what about..." so it continued for another five names that she disliked

"I've got it ! what about Hedwig ?" Harry offered to the owl to which she hooted her agreement. Harry smiled as he noticed he had arrived outside Ollivanders wand store.

As he entered the store though Harry saw his family enter flourish and blots with trunks being pulled behind them. Realizing that he was running out of time, he still had an extra stop to make, Harry rushed into the wand store. The store was empty at the moment and held over a hundred wands in the shelves that he could easily see, Harry couldn't see Ollivander though and decided to walk up to the counter. Seeing a bell on the counter Harry was about to ring it when he was interrupted by very the man he was looking for.

"Well what can I do for you today Mr Potter ?" asked a short old man who suddenly appeared in front of him.

Surprise flitted through Harry's face for a moment before he managed to calm himself

"I'm here to get my wand"

"Ah of course, it seemed like it was only a few days ago that your parents were in here getting their own wands, your mother had chosen a 10 and a quarter inches willow wand with a core of unicorn hair quite swishy it was wonderful for charms work. While your father favored a mahogany wand 11 inches with a unicorn hair for a core as well if I remember correctly, excellent for transfiguration."

"Although I they chose the wands but of course it is the wand that chooses the wizard now isn't it Mr Potter, now lets see what we can get for you." he said, as he brought out a wand from a black box.

"now, try this yew 10 inches Hungarian horntail heartstring, give it a flick now" Ollivander offered. Harry accepted the wand and did as asked, to his surprise though the wand snapped in half in a burst of wood that sent splinters flying around.

Staring at the remains of the wand in his hand, Harry turned to Ollivander and attempted to apologize but was stopped by the expression of absolute glee on the mans face.

"Astounding, ive never seen that happen before, oh I just know your going to be a great cusTomer" the wand maker exclaimed. And so it went on for over 20 minutes as Ollivander passed Harry wand after wand only to have them splinter in his hand

"Hmmmm, I wonder" the old man muttered before disappearing into the shelves and returning with a single box in his hand. Withdrawing a slender wand from the box Ollivander held it reverently while looking at Harry intently.

"Mr Potter your siblings and the other 3 chosen ones already came into my store, apparently it was their first stop, in fact they probably left not 20 minutes until you arrived. I had expected one of them to be chosen by this wand but none of them were."

"Whats so special about that wand ?"

"This wand utilizes a phoenix feather as a core Mr Potter, and the phoenix that gave that feather gave one other, JUST one other. It was the wand made from that feather that gave your siblings and their friends their scars"

"So you mean that Voldemort owned that wand ?"

"Yes he did, now why don't you try this one out." he said as he passed Harry the wand. Taking the wand from Ollivander Harry felt a warm tingling feeling rush through his arm as lights shone from no where and highlighted him clearly.

"It seems to have chosen you, why don't you give it a try ?" to both of their surprises though when he did so the wand burst again, but not so serious as the other times only cracking slightly Harry eyed the wand skeptically and when he looked up he saw Ollivander with a shocked expression that eventually changed to amusement.

"Well well Mr Potter, arent you full of surprises." he mused before lifting the counter top and walked back behind the shelves.

"Follow me." he called, as Harry rushed after him slightly confused at what had just transpired.

Following Ollivander Harry found himself in a slightly larger room then the previous one that looked a lot like a workshop. Noticing Ollivanders outstretched hand Harry passed the wand back to him, after a few moments of tinkering Ollivander passed the wand back to him looking as good as new. Harry looked curiously at the man,

"Despite the bursting the wand has chosen you already Mr Potter. Although it would seem that you are far more powerful then any average wizard to be able to cause the wands to burst" he explained before passing Harry a box to hold the wand

"It would seem that we need to find you a special wand now wont we, one that you can actually use"

"What do you mean ?"

"In these shelves Harry are all of the experiments that I have done as my time as a wand maker" seeing Harry's confused expression Ollivander decided to provide a little more detail.

"With all arts Harry, such as wand making, experimentation is needed to expand its frontiers, these wands are those experiments and thus contain rare cores and as a result tend to be more powerful then normal wands, although the wands are at the same time untested. I can only think of about 5 people who have ever warranted such a wand, it is truly a representation of your talent." he explained while passing Harry another wand. The wand never reached Harry though as a small crash was heard from the side and Harry turned to see another wand flying towards him, which Harry caught immediately. Harry felt the same surge of warmth through his body although this time it happened along with a sudden jolt as if he had been electrified, the wand which Harry estimated to be 14 inches was completely black and had an incredibly smooth texture that felt like wood and yet not at the same time. Not waiting for Ollivander to tell him to test it, Harry swung it silently while thinking _Lumos_ in his mind. He was rewarded by a striking light that threatened to burn out his corneas. As the light dimmed Harry looked back at Ollivander smiling but noticed the man had a look of complete shock on his face.

"Incredible, to think I would actually see some one experience Electus Onus in my life time, and with that wand of all things." he said with a look of awe on his face.

"What do you mean ?" Harry asked with a confused expression

"Harry you must understand that despite the fact that a wand chooses the wizard, they are never fully compatible, which is why other wizards and witches can claim that wands allegiance. Electus Onus, which was the situation where the wand flies out to its chosen one, only happens when the wand and its user are 100 percent compatible. Whats more Mr Potter that wand is special even by these standards."

"Tell me Harry do you know of the deathly hallows ?"

"Isn't that some kind of story from the tales of the beadle and the bard ?"

"It is, in the story though there exists a wand known as the elder wand, which I have obsessed over ever since I got my mastery in wand making. That wand is one of my many attempts to recreate the elder wand, and so far it is the only wand that can be considered successful, and to have it be perfectly compatible to you, I guess we could expect great things from you Mr Potter."

"That wand is made of elder wood with a Threstral hair as its core, not to mention in order to stabilize the wood and core I added two more ingredients into the mix. Dementor bone and unicorn horn, this is by far a completely Grey wand Mr Potter as it is powerful in both light and dark magic, not to mention the fact that it is untraceble. This further highlights to me the choices that you will have to make in the future."

"What do you mean ?" Harry asked

"Harry I believe you will do great things, but whether those things are good or bad is still in question. Voldemort did great things after all, terrible things surely, but great. Thus, as one of my better cusTomers over the years I hope you allow an old man to give you his two cents worth." he said, when he saw harry nodding in acceptance he smiled at Harry, before he continued with his intended advice.

"What determines your future, Mr Potter will not be your past or what other people think of you, it will be what you have done in the present that effects you, it will be all about the choices you make and how you stand by those choices."

"Do you understand ?"

"I think so, so how much do I owe you ?"

"well since you will be getting two wands that will be 26 galleons, would you perhaps like holsters with them ?"

Harry passed 50 galleons to Ollivander for the wands as well as two holsters one on his arm and the other on his shoulder, along with a wand polishing kit. Thanking the old man once again Harry exited the store. Upon recalling Ollivanders words Harry knew that he still had some measure of time before his family finished their shopping and chose to quickly collect his robs while storing them with his trunk, after which he shrank the trunk down and stowed it in his pocket. Once done Harry made his way into knock turn alley.

Harry found that walking into knock turn alley wasn't as dangerous as long as you knew how to walk, there were two ways Harry had identified. One was the confident and powerful persona that some showed in the alley, it simply projected the aura that said 'mess with me and die'. While the other way was to sneak and not attract attention. Harry found that as an 11 year old boy it would make more sense to take the sneaky path, and so he did. After a few minutes of keeping to the side of the road Harry found an unnamed bookstore and entered it. Staying there for a few minutes Harry picked out pver 10 books on the more questionable arts before he payed and rushed out of the store and knock turn alley in general, to meet up with his family.

* * *

"Stupify"

Harry smiled as he saw a bright red light burst from his wand to hit the wall, leaving a small mark there. Harry laughed as he finally succeeded in controlling his power. When ollivander had told him that the wand he had gotten had no tracking charm on him he was incredibly excited at the prospect of using it and once he arrived home to try out all the magic that he was unable to use with wandless magic previously. Unfortunately, due to his childlike excitement he had forgotten about the previous experiance with the _lumos_ in ollivanders store. Instead of the normal problem of not being able to use the spell he found he had too much power in the spell. A fire spell he tried nearly burnt his room down, thankfully a few repair and water charms were able to sought out that mess.

After that incident, he had spent the remaining month before hogwarts began on learning how to control his power. Some research into the Potter and black libraries as well as some books from knockturn alley did wonders for his control. Although still having some trouble he was finally able to use his phoenix feather wand without it bursting into pieces after 2 weeks of practice, through out those 2 weeks though he had been forced to sneak to ollivanders when the wand he was using did break.

Harry spared another glance at his room to check if he had left anything of importance behind. As the day of his departure to hogwarts came closer Harry had begun what could only be called a tedious process of packing his trunk. His clothes and other belongings were not that difficult as a swipe of his hand had them packed into the trunk easily. It was the choosing of what books to bring with him to Hogwarts that he was having a problem with. Two days before the first of september Harry had raided both the Potter and black libraries for books to bring with him to Hogwarts, Harry had brought enough books to last him till the christmas holidays. He had already reread his school books for most of the subjects like charms and transfigurations and decided to bring his own books despite the fact that he was told hogwarts had one of the worlds largest libraries in the world. Sirius had told him that most of the good books were in the restricted section and without access to it the books in the normal library were somewhat lacking. Thinking about the restricted section of the library brought anger to Harry's thoughts. Harry had thought he would be able to use his fathers invisibility cloak to sneak into the library. Those hopes though were dashed when his father had given the cloak to his siblings, in fact it had just happened a few days ago, so the memory was still fresh in his mind.

_The Potters, blacks and remus were having their weekly dinner together when james interupted them during desert._

_"Well since charlie and rose are going to Hogwarts in a few days, i thought it would be good to give them a little surprise and i cant think of a better time to give it to them." he said as he presented the two with a package _

_"But i expect the both of you to share."_

_Harry was watching this with a stony expression, it was a common occurrence in Potter manor now for Harry to be forgotten by his parents and he paid it no mind. His expression faulted when he saw what was in the package that his siblings had excitedly unwrapped. _

_"The invisibility cloak and the marauders map !" Exclaimed charlie_

_"Your giving them to us ?" Rose asked, to which James nodded with a smile_

_"Thanks dad !" charlie and rose cried as they wrapped their father in a bone crushing hug._

_"I hope you use it well." James replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes to which lily kicked him in the shin. Which in turn caused huge boughts of laughter from the group. Harry though did not laugh but was instead too busy forcing a smile. On the inside though Harry was seething in anger, for the first time in his life Harry felt anger at what was the great injustice in his life. There was no longer any reason that he could generate to explain his parents actions. He had not expected to be given both the map and cloak. But still, based on tradition he was supposed to be the one to be given the cloak. He had done research into the cloak and had discovered that it was the cloak that death had given ignotus preverall and had also discovered that the Potters were descended from the peverall line. That meant that Harry should have been given the cloak as the eldest son was supposed to receive the cloak. It hurt even more then the usual cases of favoritism as this time Harry had expected to get the cloak being the eldest, it seemed though that that had been his mistake. it was one of the few times he had actually hoped that his parents would treat him as his siblings equal, he was thus unprepared for their actions._

_Putting his false smile back on his face Harry decided it was a good time to excuse himself " Could i be excused mother, father ?" _

_he need not have made the attempt though as lily and James at the moment did not even notice he existed yet alone the fact that he had spoken. With a frown Harry narrowed his eyes momentarily before leaving the room in a huff._

_Just because his parents did not notice though did not mean that Harry's exit went completely unnoticed, Remus Sirius and Emilia shared a look before Remus and Sirius made excuses to leave the room as well._

_Harry entered his room in a horrible mood, and in his anger accidentally knocked a vase over which promptly broke into pieces Harry scowled at the shattered remains of the vase before waving his hand and restoring it to its previous pristine condition. After which he continued walking around the room with a scowl on his face, which elicited a concerned hoot from Hedwig, who was watching her master with a concerned expression. Harry though stopped as he felt 2 hands each grab one of his shoulders. Turning around, Harry found himself face to face with sirius and remus, both of whom had sympathetic and apologetic looks on their faces._

_"Are you okay pup ?" Sirius asked with a concerned expression on his face, with remus mirroring said expression as well._

_Harry sighed deeply "I'm not sure Sirius."_

_Sirius and remus did not know what to say to that and had simply sat with Harry._

Harry brought himself out of his reminiscing and decided to check his room for anything that he might have missed while packing, satisfied that he had gotten everything Harry called Hedwig over, as she flew over and rested on his shoulder and pecked his cheek affectionately, to which he scratched her head in return. After a few cleaning spells on her perch he stowed it into his trunk before leaving the room.

Entering the living room Harry was greeted by what could only be an amusing sight, both of his siblings trunks were in the living room but the owners of said trunks were still running around doing some last minute packing. Harry sat at the couch and continued watching the chaos that had enveloped the house as lily and james were forced into the search as well. Rose ran up to Harry "Harry, have you seen my red jacket ?"

"Whats wrong with your other jacket ?"

"But its my lucky jacket." She explained, Harry expected the jacket to be in her room as with the other 10 times she had 'lost' her jacket, but he was feeling slightly unhelpful at the moment and simply shrugged at her. To which rose simply scowled at her older brother.

The Potters finally got everything sorted at 10 30 and immediately filed into the fire place all of whom disappeared in a burst of green flame after shouting 'platform nine and three quarters'.

The Potters filed out of the floo as they entered the platform and were greeted with an incredible sight. Not only was the platform packed with people but instead of the modern trains on the tracks, on the tracks stood a startling scarlet engine that resembled those coal run trains of ages pass. All 3 Potter children stared incredulously at the rather impressive engine as James and lily smiled at them knowingly.

"Come on come on, lets go and look for the others." charlie exclaimed as he and rose sped through the crowd, followed swiftly by James and lily and Harry.

Halfway through the platform they finally found the Michael s LongbotTom's waiting beside a pillar as the children who lived gathered stares from the crowd started becoming more and more common. Soon the group was joined by remus and the blacks. After initial greetings, sirius and remus pulled Harry aside.

"Hey pup." sirius said

"We were feeling kinda bad about the map and cloak -"

"You don't need to be, I've gotten over it I can always use a disillusionment charm in place of the cloak any way and i never really expected to get the map anyway." Harry replied easily.

Remus and sirius though noticed a slight twitch in Harry's eye as he spoke though and knew that he had taken it really badly. After all it was one of the few times Harry had hoped for anything from his parents and that unfortunately left him open to the hurt that they caused. Both men though wisely decided to act as if they never saw anything.

"Any way we were feeling guilty so we made you this" remus continued as he passed Harry a piece of parchment. Harry's eyes widened as he saw said piece of parchment

"Is this-"

"We were part of the four that made the map in the first place, although we did add in some extras into it." sirius chuckled as Harry wrapped the two men in a hug

" thanks !" Harry exclaimed as the three shared a smile.

Harry's smile though faded as a huge group of redheads approached, as he saw Arthur and molly Weasley along with the other Weasley children approach he couldn't help but cringe. Harry did not hate the entire Weasley clan, he had a healthy amount of respect for Arthur Weasley as he found the man to be incredibly interesting to converse with especially in the area of muggle technologies. Fred and George Harry truly liked, as they were incredibly fun to be with, what with their bad jokes and pranks. The two elder Weasley children though Harry had no opinion of after all he had only seen them once or twice. It was the two youngest Weasley children as well as the Weasley matriarch that Harry did not appreciate. Harry found Ron Weasley to be a simpleton that was as bigoted as the Notts and was Harry believed to be mainly attracted to the fame of being friend to the children who lived. Ginny Weasley though was a typical fan girl and was pretty much obsessed with the five. While molly was as bigoted as Ron and at the same time had some serious control issues.

After a few more minutes of chatting the children made their way onto the train, after hugging sirius Remus and Emilia Harry bid his parents good bye although once again he realized he need not have bothered as all he heard in return was his parents continued fussing over his siblings. When they finally looked at him, he forced a smile and followed his siblings onto the train.

"Come on lets find a compartment." charlie proposed to the agreement of the other 6. When they found a car though Harry found it far too noisy to read. So he grabbed his trunk and made his way to find another compartment waving of his siblings attempts to get him to stay, making up the excuse that he was looking for someone.

* * *

Towards the end of the train Harry found an empty compartment and settled into it as Hedwig, who was previously resting on his shoulder took a seat next to him.

Harry took out 'dueling with the help of transfiguration by Eins Newman' and began reading from where he left off. He stopped though when he felt the jerk that indicated the train was moving off. Harry looked at the scenery passing by before something from outside the compartment caught his attention.

"Damn it all the compartments are full." Harry heard a voice complain.

"I told you we should have just sat with charlie and rose in their apartment." another voice added

"The compartment was almost full anyway, Besides would you like to end up sitting with Weasley as well ? Id rather not be called a dark wizard while on the train thank you very much."

"I'm sure one of them would know an expanding charm plus it would Beat sitting out here !"

"Oh enough, there's a compartment right here." a third voice interrupted. "But there's someone inside." "Either we go in or we go back to the front and search again" the third voice proposed, after a moment of silence Harry heard the door open, facing the newcomers Harry was greeted by Draco Malfoy, Roger Davies and Cedric Diggory. They were not the only ones there though as Anastasia Zabini, Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis entered the room. "Hi could we come in ?" Cedric asked "Your kind of in the compartment already aren't you ? It really defeats the purpose of asking." Harry answered, to the stunned expression of the others in the compartments. "Sorry about that." Tracy replied with an apologetic expression. " Its fine, here sit." Harry said while gesturing to the empty seats. While Hedwig hooted in annoyance as the new comers sat down. Draco was giving Harry an analytical look, Harry knew of that look from experience. He had seen it a thousand times before, it was the 'he looks familiar but where have I seen him before' look. Soon Draco brought himself out of his thoughts, "I'm Draco Malfoy that's Cedric Diggory, hes Roger Davies and these fine ladies are Daphne-" "Greengrass, I believe that would mean your Tracy Davis and you would be Anastasia Zabini." Harry finished for him, where he was once again rewarded with bewildered looks. "I'm Harry Potter" he introduced himself as the bewildered looks changed to ones of shock. Roger Davies was the first to break the uncomfortable silence that had covered the entire compartment "Potter as in Rose and Charlie Potter, that Potter?" "Yes I'm their triplet" Harry answered lackadaisically. "We've been in the same school as you for over 4 years, saint Andrews ?" "Oh, I've never noticed ..." Roger replied with an uncomfortable expression that was matched by the others in the compartment. "Meh, it happens" Harry replied while waving it off simply. While continuing his reading and petting Hedwig. He did however miss the guilty expression on their faces. Anastasia tried to change topics "so Harry, what house do you think your going to be in, from your family history ill guess it would be Griffindor." "I guess so although i don't really mind where I'm placed its just a house" Tracy stammered at Harry's attitude "what, its not just a house it determines just about everything on your future in Hogwarts." Harry shrugged in response, as he looked at Draco " i guess your going to be in Slytherin ?" "Of course" he replied haughtily. "With his arrogance he would probably get into gryffindor." Roger commented, to which Draco simply replied with a glare as Harry and the others laughed heartily at the joke. Harry soon found his opinion of each of them readily forming as their conversation soon gained better momentum. Draco looked pretty much like his father, with light blonde hair and an angular face. Draco was relatively nice but had a haughty and slightly arrogant attitude due to his rather highbrow upbringing. Roger though had sandy brown hair and a strong jaw with what looked like a body well trained Harry thought was due to quid itch. Roger though Harry determined to be a smart guy and yet preferred to act the relaxed class clown. He like Draco came from a well to do family. Cedric had dark brown hair and had the same well built body that Roger had. Cedric though seemed to be the most mature amongst the three and yet was not so mature that he wasn't up to joking and clowning around. Tracy Davis had long hair that was similar in color to Rogers she was pretty in a cute way and had a bubbly personality that seemed to brighten up the room. Anastasia Harry found to be the serious one of the group, she seemed to be the one who kept Roger Draco and Cedric in line. She had short black hair that went just past her shoulders and her features were sharp and exuded an aura of confidence. The last member of the group was the one that Harry had no sure impression of. She was beautiful of that there was no question, with long blonde hair and a perfectly sculpted face and features as well as the most beautiful blue eyes Harry had ever seen. He found that she didn't trust him much and was incredibly reserved when talking with him. Their conversation though was soon brought to an end as a whistle sounded, they had arrived at Hogwarts.

Harry sat with Roger Draco and Cedric as they took a boat up to the castle with his first glance at Hogwarts though Harry couldn't help but stare, unlike his siblings his parents had never saw fit to bring him here like his siblings, thus it was generally the first time Harry had laid his eyes on Hogwarts. After they finally landed on land Harry had to actively struggle to convince Hedwig to wait in her cage. It had unfortunately ended with Harry sporting five new cuts on his fingers while Draco Roger and Cedric simply looked on in amusement. "Some help you lot were" Harry muttered "Its your bird" Cedric chuckled slightly "Damn you" Harry cursed as he started ascending the stairs of the castle. Looking around he noticed his siblings with their usual group of friends plus a girl with a rather large mane of bushy hair. Looking around he counted at least 50 new students this year. Although this number was completely negligible in the muggle world, Harry felt that it was probably quite significant in the wizarding world. Soon a rather aged women entered from the gates as Hagrid the groundskeeper introduced them to professor McGonagall. After a brief introduction that Harry felt was very threatening in nature. She beckoned them to follow her as she entered the great hall. Despite the noise in the hall Harry could still hear Ron make an idiotic idea about fighting a troll. Harry actually snorted at his idiocy, Roger had heard it as well and was actively trying to control himself from bursting out laughing. Soon the sorting hat was brought out and the sorting began and Harry watched as Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones were sorted into Hufflepuff. Harry zoned out through out the sorting only paying attention when one of his new friends was sorted. Harry barely payed attention to his siblings and the children who lived as their sorting was so predicable. Their name would be called, the crowd would respond with whispering and stares before they would be sorted to gryffindor to the cheers from those sitting at the table. Right after rose Harry's turn came, as professor McGonagall looked at the parchment her face scrunched up in confusion before she said "Potter Harry" As his name was called out Harry walked up to the chair amid shocked looks from not just the student populace but the professors themselves, most were not aware of the eldest Potters existence. Harry was greeted with even more gasps, stares and whispers then all of the 5 combined even the teachers weren't exempted from this "Did she say Potter as in those Potters or do they just share the same last name ?" "They cant be the same Potters can they ? I never heard of any brother." "He has to be a muggleborn."

Harry noticed that only the six who he had met in the train apart from his siblings and their friends were not shocked at his appearance. Harry chuckled when he saw the apologetic looks on their faces as he put the sorting hat on his head.

"So the last Potter finally shows up, oh my such powerful shields would you mind releasing them for me." the hat said

"Is that really necessary ?" Harry whined

"I'm afraid so."

"Fine" Harry muttered as he lowered his shields

"My my what a surprise, such power in one so young, such incredible talent. Hmmmm yes you do have quite a considerable amount of ambition. But your courage is also something to take note of, and your loyal but only to those who have earned your trust. And as for your academic inquisitiveness, my my it seems that you could only be in Ravenclaw young Potter."

Harry remembered how Ravenclaw was supposed to be one of the more academic inclined groups but Harry did not feel that he belonged there.

"Are you sure, I don't really care much for exams or studying in general" Harry said truthfully, Harry loved to learn that much was true but he did not like to study do home work or take tests, Harry not only found it incredibly boring but found that it often took the fun out of learning in the first place.

"Mr Potter as you already know, knowledge is always about learning it is about understanding new things and putting them into practice. I have no idea how over the years that the learning motto of the Ravenclaws has devolved into this obsession with grades that seems to plague the house. Trust me on this Mr Potter you are more of a Ravenclaw then any other in that house."

"Alright, if you feel its for the best." Harry accepted, right after which the hat announced.

"RAVENCLAW !"

Unlike his siblings, Harry did not receive ruckus applause or joy from the crowd, instead, the crowd continued their staring as Harry walked towards the Ravenclaw table amidst the clapping of the Ravenclaws, that Harry knew were clapping more for the fact that a student had been sorted there then the fact that the student was him. Harry smiled though as he noticed, Roger who had been sorted to Ravenclaw earlier wave Harry down to sit next to him. When Harry did so he was greeted by Roger who was at the moment looking as if he wanted to laugh.

"And what exactly is so funny ?" Harry asked with a rather irritated expression.

"The crowds reaction to you of course!"

"How is whispering and staring funny ?"

"It is to me." Roger chuckled.

At this Harry couldn't help but laugh silently to himself, Harry later turned his attention back to the sorting just in time to see Anastasia get sorted into Slytherin. With the sorting over Dumbledore sat up to give his yearly speech, which Harry completely ignored. The only bit that Harry did listen to was the part about the forbidden corridor.

"What kind of idiot tells rebellious children not to go some where, that's like telling them to go there right away." Harry thought to himself.

"You'd think that after being head master for over 60 years he would know more about children."

Soon though Dumbledore ended the speech with 4 really weird words before allowing them to eat, while eating, Harry continued to make light conversation with Roger and soon found that he truly did enjoy Rogers company, some how Rogers irritating sense of humor was rather refreshing to Harry. Later though their conversation was interrupted by a rather pretty Chinese girl with long black hair and brown eyes.

" Hi " the girl called, as Harry and Roger greeted her in return.

" I'm Cho, Cho Chang, and that's Lisa Turpin" she said, as she pointed to the brown haired girl with dark brown eyes sitting next to her.

"I'm Roger Davies" Roger introduced, before pointing in Harry's direction. "and that is Harry Potter" he gestured haphazardly, to which Harry shot him a glare. Looking at the two girls Harry saw the expressions on their faces and was honestly surprised. It wasn't the usual expressions of shock and disbelief or the calculating look of some one trying to use him to get closer to his siblings. Their faces simply showed genuine curiosity, so Harry decided to answer their queries.

" And yes, im rose and charlie Potters eldest triplet." Harry said. To which both girls blushed at their expressions.

"Sorry about that, its just I never heard about you before." Lisa said while her blush deepened at the admittance.

Harry shrugged, before continuing with his steak and mashed potatoes. Soon the four managed to overcome the air of awkwardness and had managed to start up a genuine conversation. When the conversation of quidditch had come out though Harry discovered that Cho was as much if not more of a fanatic than Roger was, Lisa on the other hand was far more inclined to the academics. Unfortunately she was the exact kind of Ravenclaw that the hat had described to Harry that was obsessed with grades homework and school. Harry vowed to break that misconception in her mind, along with those in the other Ravenclaws. Soon dinner ended after a rather scrumptious treacle tart and the first years followed their prefects to the room. Harry watched as the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs rushed out of the great hall before the Ravenclaws and Slytherin followed suit.

"Im Penelope Clearwater and that's Tom Keller and well be your 5th year prefects, you will most likely be meeting the 6th and 7th year prefects throughout the year. Our head of house is professor Flitwick so if you have any problems you should look for either the prefects or the professor." Penelope explained while they walked.

After walking for a moment they ascended a spiral staircase and continued climbing till they reached what Harry estimated was the fifth floor, before they continued walking till they got to a door with no handle only a knocker in the shape of a raven.

"Our common room is slightly different in that we don't use passwords, instead we have to answer riddles that the knocker asks us, you could say that it is a great way to test your knowledge. If you answer it incorrectly then you will have to wait for someone else to answer it correctly before you can go in." Penelope explained. As Tom prefect knocked on the door with the knocker.

"If you throw me from the window I will leave a grieving wife, if you bring me back but in the door you'll see someone giving life, what am I ?" the knocker asked, to the confused looks of the students.

"Must you always do this ?" Tom asked with an exasperated sigh

"it keeps all of you on your toes" the knocker replied cheekily.

Penelope let out a sigh "you'll have to forgive him, hes gained some weird quirks after a few centuries, he enjoys giving really hard riddles from time to time to confuse students, unfortunately one of the times he likes to do this is during the first night of the school year."

"Give us another question then." Tom grumbled

the knocker chuckled "are you sure you don't want to give it a-"

"the letter N" Harry said before yawning, he really wanted to go to bed, as all eyes turned to him.

"what ?" the knocker asked him, with what looked like a shocked expression, Harry really didn't know what a shocked expression on a knocker looked like.

"The letter N is the answer, right ?"

"If you take N out of window you get widow, but if you put N into door you get donor" Harry explained.

"That would be correct, an excellent deduction well done." the knocker praised as the door swung open. While the prefects and the first years walked into the common room. The raven claw common room was needless to say a rather impressive sight, the room was a wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble.

"The boys domortries are on your left while the girls are on the right, curfew is ast 10 30 and no one is to leave the dorms after that." penelope explained

"We will be waiting for you here at seven to bring you to the great hall for breakfast, so dont be late" Tom added. As the first years nodded in agreement before going up to their dorm rooms. Upon entering the room Harry chose a bed near a window that overlooked the black lake and began unpacking. After opening hadwigs cage hedwig flew out immediately and perched on a book case, Harry chuckled at her actions. After unpacking Harry rested on his bed while reading one of the books he had brought from home. His three room mates, that included Roger had just finished unpacking and were preparing for bed. Roger had taken the bed to Harrys left while zacharias smith had taken the bed to his right opposite him was justin steele. Harry decided to follow their lead and after a moment Harry greeted the three other boys good night and made his way to bed, the days occurences still came back to him and his las thoughts before falling into the realm of morpheus was the first friends that he had ever made.

"This is going to be interesting." Harry thought to himself before falling into a deep sleep.

**And thats it for chapter three, not to worry though as i hope to get chapter 4 done in a weeks time. As for the matter of harrys friends, i had read a few fics where he had cross house friendships and they really appealed to me, so i just wrote it so he had them, i personally liked cedric and cho so i thought to include them into our heroes clique, and yes to you cho/cedric fans theyll get together.**


	4. Chapter 4: settling down

**A/N : and hello to you, its been a week and I give to you a new chapter. Lol to those who have been upset about the capitals and stuff, my writer has been having problems so there will be plenty of mistakes here but bare with me for the moment while I try to get it fixed.**

**Disclaimer : I own charlie,rose and a few others but that's it !**

**now on with the story, (stares at the sunset)**

To break out of a shadow

Chapter 4 : settling down

"Avada Kedavra" a cold voice shouted, as a cold green light burst forth.

Harry woke with a start at the all too familiar dream that had plagued his nights ever since he was a child. Harry sighed as images of the nightmare came to him, he had had this nightmare for as long as he could remember and yet had no idea what it meant, only that it constantly left him a shivering mess. No one knew of these dreams not Sirius or Remus and definitely not his parents. Harry sighed audibly as he knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon. Grabbing his watch from the drawer next to his bed Harry noticed it was already 5 o clock, which was the normal time he awoke each day so it wasn't much of an inconvenience. Getting up, Harry put on his usual Grey shirt and long pants before going out for a run, as was his routine. instead of running around the manor though, Harry was now running around the black lake. After his daily run Harry returned to the dormitories at six and went to clean up, in half an hour Harry was showered and prepared to go for breakfast. Harry noticed though that Roger was still sleeping in his bed, Harry walked over to Rogers bed and tried to shake the boy awake.

"Roger get up its already 6 30, were going to be late." Harry said.

"Five more minutes," Roger mumbled.

" If you don't get up im going to have to take some drastic measures." Harry warned, but seeing as Roger just ignored him and continued sleeping harry decided to take those drastic measures.

"Fine I tried." Harry sighed, before withdrawing his phoenix feather wand.

"Aguamenti" Harry thought, as a burst of water flew from the tip of the wand to collide with Rogers sleeping form, knocking him of the bed.

"What the hell !" Roger said as he pulled himself up.

"I warned you,"

"now, go and get ready or well be late." Harry said sweetly, to which Roger shot him a glare but walked to the bathroom nonetheless.

In a few minutes Harry and Roger walked into the common room where they saw many of the first year Ravenclaws already present. Spotting Cho and Lisa Harry and Roger walked over to the duo,

"Hey Harry !" Lisa greeted excitedly.

"Whats gotten you so chipper ?" Harry asked.

" She just cant wait for lessons to start, its all shes been talking about." Cho said tiredly.

"Are you mad women !" Roger said.

" Cant believe I actually know someone that's happy to start school." Roger exclaimed, as Cho giggled at his reaction, while Harry chuckled.

"Are you telling me that your not the least bit excited about starting magic ?" Lisa asked skeptically, to which Roger simply shrugged. Harry laughed as the group followed Penelope and Tom out of the common room and to the great hall. On the way, Harry ran into his siblings and their friends,

"Hey Harry" rose squeaked excitedly.

"Morning" Harry replied.

"So, hows the Ravenclaw common room." charlie asked

"Not bad, its got a lot of room, hows the Griffindor common room ?"

"Its great !" They both replied simultaneously.

Harry smiled at the duo " Wonderful, anyway I gotta go." Harry said while pointing at the Ravenclaw table, as his two siblings said goodbye before going to their own table.

"You just talked to the children who lived." Cho said with awe.

Harry raised an eyebrow, smirking "I know its like we actually know each other." he said sarcastically to which Cho blushed deeply at her error.

"Sorry its just, I-"

"Forget about it." Harry said waving her off.

As they walked towards the Ravenclaw table, Harry noticed Draco, Tracy, Daphne and Anastasia sitting at the Slytherin table while waving at them, along with Roger Harry returned their greetings before moving to the Ravenclaw table, Harry spotted Cedric at the Hufflepuff table and waved to him as well, to which he returned with a smile.

Breakfast could only be described as delicious although not as good as what Harry and his mother would make from time to time, Harry did miss those moments sorely now that he was in Hogwarts. Harry was at the moment drinking some tea when he glanced over to the Griffindor table to spot Ron shovel bacon into his mouth, Harry felt sick at the sight. It seemed that Harry was not alone as he saw several Griffindors cringe inwardly at their house mates lack of table manners.

Soon breakfast would be completed and the head of houses would begin passing out class schedules starting from the front. As professor Flitwick walked towards them Harry heard the sound of diminutive foot steps sound out against the hard floors of the great hall. Harry smiled and greeted his new head of house, "Morning professor." Harry droned, to which Roger Cho and Lisa followed suit.

Harry knew that although professor Flitwicks diminutive size might indicate a weak person physically Harry knew that one should not judge a book by its cover. After all Harry had read several books that refereed to his head of house's dueling prowess and found that he had developed a healthy sense of respect for the man.

"Good morning Mr potter, Mr Davies and of course Ms Chang and Turpin." Flitwick cheerily replied while passing them their schedules for the rest of the year. Looking at the timetable Harry chuckled,

"The school days don't seem too long, we generally end at four or five, I wonder about the other other houses." Harry commented.

" I asked prefect Clearwater, it seems the class schedules are divided up evenly so all houses share at least one lesson with each other per subject" Lisa answered.

"Now come on we have transfiguration with professor Mcgonigal for or first lesson and I want to make a good impression." Lisa said hurriedly.

"You do know that the teachers impression of you does not impact how well you do in the class right ?" Harry asked curiously, to which Cho and Roger laughed merrily while Lisa frowned at Harry.

"Lets go." Lisa growled in response while leading Harry Cho and Roger out of the great hall.

Heading east of the middle courtyard, Harry and friends found themselves in classroom 1B where their transfiguration lessons would be held. The classroom in question was huge, surrounded by high windows that nearly reached the ceiling, had four rows of three desks per row and still had enough room for several cages and bookshelves, two chalkboards and a desk at the front of the classroom. At the moment though there was a Grey tabby cat on the desk watching everyone closely. Harry frowned at the sight, something didn't seem right about the cat sitting on the desk. Harry's curiosity got the best of him and he engaged his minds eye, looking closer Harry's questions were answered as he saw an above average core when he looked at said cat.

"An animagus then ?" Harry thought with interest. As Lisa practically dragged the trio to the front Harry though luckily got to sit in the second row after a lucky victory against Roger in a rather discreet game of rock paper scissors, much to Rogers chagrin. Harry then chose a seat behind Roger away from the sight of professor Mcgonigal. Taking out his materials Harry spared a glance at the schedule again to see that they were sharing the lessons with the first year Hufflepuffs.

Cedric would later enter the classroom with some off the other Hufflepuffs and would eventually take a seat next to Harry.

"Hey guys." Cedric greeted.

"Hey Ced, its about time you got here." Roger called back, as Harry chuckled silently while reading transfiguration and its uses by Emilio Castanza.

"Hi im Cedric Diggory." Cedric introduced.

"Its nice to meet you" Cho replied a little too sweetly, to which Harry raised an eyebrow but chose not to mention anything, he would keep such information for later.

"I'm Cho Chang and that's-"

"Lisa Turpin." Lisa finished for her.

"you know Harry, and Roger ?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, ive known Roger for ages almost since birth, we just met Harry on the train" Cedric answered.

"I think we may have met Harry before the train Ced." Roger teased, as Cedric blushed at his mistake. Harry had simply shrugged at the sentence.

"why would you say something like that ?" Cedric groused.

"Its fun making you uncomfortable." Roger laughed, as he was simultaneously smacked in the arm and the head by Harry and Cho.

"OW ! What the hell."

Harry smiled at that. "You totally deserved it."

" You guys are such-"

"Shut it, professor Mcgonigal could be coming in at any moment." Lisa scolded as Roger looked around to notice that the classroom was already full.

" Shes already here." Harry answered absentmindedly while still reading his book. As Roger Cho Lisa and Cedric all looked at him curiously.

" What are you talking about ? there's only that bloody cat-"

Roger didn't get to finish though as professor Mcgonigal chose to change back at that moment,

" Mr Davies I am certainly not a bloody cat." professor Mcgonigal said, as Roger turned a rather interesting shade of red as Harry watched on with interest.

" How did you know it was me Mr potter ?" professor Mcgonigal asked.

"Well you are a transfiguration professor and ive never met a cat that sits on a desk for so long without doing anything." Harry answered simply, it wasn't a lie, he had used his sight due to those concerns, his sight just confirmed his suspicions is all.

"I must say that's some excellent logic Mr potter, take ten points." professor Mcgonigal rewarded.

"Now lets begin shall we ?"

Her face suddenly turning, much to Harry's disbelief, even more serious, " I am professor Minerva Mcgonigal and in my transfiguration class I have certain rules that you will need to abide by, transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and never come back, am I clear ?"

To which many nodded immediately, as professor Mcgonigal returned the nods with one of her own and turned to the chalkboards behind her.

"Now then for your first year, transfiguration in my lesson will not be covering the more difficult areas as of yet, in fact we will begin with this," she said while withdrawing a matchstick from her desk.

"In this lesson we will be going through how to transfigure a matchstick into a silver needle, so we will begin with..." she then went on to go into the lesson on how one should begin with the transfiguration as most of the students were kept at rapt attention.

Harry though was not one of those students as he found himself drifting off, it wasn't that professor Mcgonigal was a poor teacher, far from it. Harry could already tell that in front of him was an incredibly fair and dedicated teacher. Unfortunately the problem lay in what she was teaching, Harry actually cursed his own hardworking nature for a moment, due to his own personal studies and practices for over 7 years had already covered most of the Hogwarts curriculum. He knew that if he was given the work of seventh year students he could probably do it easily, his constant obsession with books had led to a huge depth of magical knowledge that even some of the professors might have hard time competing wit. This though meant that he was thus far ahead of any student in Hogwarts, Harry for a moment entertained the idea of testing ahead and graduating early. Harry doubted the possibility of that course of action though as to do so he would require the approval of not just his parents and professors but also the head master and the board of governors. Harry believed that the approval of his parents and professors was easily attained but the head master and boards approval was unlikely. Albus Dumbledore would not look kindly on someone who would outshine his five precious chosen ones, while the board had people like Nott in play and were not likely to allow a half blood like himself go above their pureblood children. So it seemed to Harry that he would have to wait and see, maybe the lessons would prove more interesting as more difficult topics were taught, until then Harry would have to find a way to learn on his own.

Looking up, Harry noticed that the theory for the day had already been taught and that the students had already begun to try out the practical side of the lesson. Harry withdrew his phoenix feather wand from his pocket and decided to give it a shot. Waving his wand the matchstick changed into a silver needle immediately, another wave and it changed back. Harry looked around to see how his fellow classmates were doing at the moment. Lisa had just succeeded in changing the match into a needle and was currently helping Cho.

"Excellent miss Turpin, five points to Ravenclaw." professor Mcgonigal said, to which Harry saw Lisa grin happily.

Roger on the other hand had successfully changed the match into a needle but it still wasn't completely silver. Cedric was struggling though, and on closer inspection Harry noticed that Cedric was using his wand at the wrong angle before he could correct him though Lisa jumped in.

" You need to swing down on your wand, not diagonally." she explained.

"really ?" Cedric asked.

"You do Mr Diggory after all transfiguration is difficult as it requires such precision." professor Mcgonigal explained. When Cedric followed their advice the match changed to a silver needle almost immediately.

"Excellent work Mr Diggory, 5 points to Hufflepuff, miss Turpin, 5 points to Ravenclaw for helping a fellow student."

"Thank you professor." Lisa and Cedric responded.

Soon the lesson would end with professor Mcgonigal giving a homework assignment, much to Lisa's joy. Harry though was less then pleased. Harry despised homework, he found that so much more could be done if he didn't spend time doing the work, Harry found that such works tended to ruin true learning, although most found it a necessary evil Harry was at times like this prone to disagree. As they exited the room Harry asked.

"Whats our next lesson ?"

" Herbology with the Slytherin's." Cho answered, as Lisa looked scandalized as if Harry had just blasphemed.

"You don't know ?" she asked.

"We just got the schedule today and I haven't bothered committing it to memory yet." Harry answered

Lisa actually stuttered at Harry's easy dismissal, to which Cho, Roger and Cedric laughed merrily at her reaction.

"Okay I gotta go, I have potions with the Griffindors now." Cedric said as he followed the other Hufflepuffs to the dungeons.

The Herbology lessons were located in the green houses below the two main bell towers of the castle, the green houses were mainly made of glass and metal with statues of dragons running along their peaked roofs, green house one was long and sunny with a work table in the center. The lesson in question was similar to transfiguration, good teacher easy subjects, and Harry managed to take a rather relaxed approach to the subject. Lunch was as usual excellent and was concluded without incident, although Harry found Roger spilling a cup of pumpkin juice on Cho, and Cho slapping him in return rather enjoyable. Astronomy was slightly more interesting but for someone who had already read all the books and charts and nearly memorized them word for word, it was for a lack of a better word, easy. Dinner was similar to lunch, although what interested Harry was when Cedric walked over to them just as they left the great hall.

Looking at him curiously Harry asked. "Whats up ?"

"Whens your potion lesson with professor Snape ?" Cedric asked.

Harry did not really know where this was going but decided to answer anyway, "I think its tomorrow, why ?"

"Well during the lesson your brother was kinda not paying attention and Snape just tore into him, asking him seriously difficult questions and punishing him really harshly, I think he lost around 50 points, I thought you would like to know."

"Did rose get punished ?"

"Not really she managed to answer one of the questions."

"That makes sense,"

"What do you mean." Roger asked

"Well, when they were young my mom and dad knew professor Snape, but while mom was good friends with him, dad hated him and it was mutual from what I heard."

"Although their pretty okay with each other now, I guess seeing charlie must bring up some pretty bad memories for him."

"Anyway thanks for the heads up Cedric." Harry said, well Cedric nodded.

"Its no problem Harry, see you guys later." Cedric said while waving at them.

"Come on lets go to the library." Lisa proposed.

"Do we have to, its just the first day." Cho complained, but would in the end give up and follow Lisa's demands. After which the group would enter the library and return to their dorms.

Lying on his bed Harry was at the same time scratching Hedwig behind the ears, much to the owls enjoyment, while continuing his reading of transfiguration and its uses. The owl in question had just delivered letters to his parents, Sirius and Remus so he thought the owl deserved some petting. Later at ten Harry would lay back on his bed before slowly falling to sleep, thus concluding his first day at Hogwarts.

Harry's second morning at Hogwarts was not unlike his first, except with one vast difference, no nightmares, like the first morning Harry woke up at five and began his daily routine of running around the black lake before returning to the dormitories to shower. Harry was also once again forced to wake Roger up and he did so by dumping Rogers books on top of him. Now as the duo walked down to the common room, Roger was voicing his severe displeasure at being woken up in such a way.

"Your a real git you know that." groused Roger

"I warned you of the consequences for both days, you chose to ignore them so I did what I had to do." Harry replied happily, albeit enjoying the moment a little too much.

"How can you expect some one whose sleeping to listen to you ?" Roger complained, to which Harry shrugged plainly, causing him to growl slightly with indignation.

As the two entered the common room they were greeted by one rather excited Ravenclaw who greeted them a little to merrily.

"Good morning !" Lisa said, as Roger stared at the girl irritatedly.

"What the devils gotten you so happy." Roger asked

"And don't say its a beautiful day for lessons." Roger whined, before Lisa could say anything. Lisa on the other hand looked nonplussed which told Harry that she was about to say just that.

"Whats gotten you so pissed off ?" Cho asked with a rather amused expression on her face.

"Ask Harry." Roger almost growled. At this point both Lisa and Cho looked curiously at Harry,

"What did you do ?"

"Nothing. He just didn't like the way I woke him up this morning." Harry answered simply.

"The way you woke me up ? You threw all of my books on me." Roger complained, as Lisa looked rather ill at the thought.

"Harry ! How could you treat his books like that you could have damaged them." Lisa scolded, as Harry and Cho giggled at Rogers stunned expression.

"My books ? Who the hell cares about that, what about me ? Roger asked.

"what about you ?" Lisa asked emphatically.

"Loons ! The lot of you." Roger announced before walking out of the common room with the three other Ravenclaws following him from behind trying to stifle their giggles.

As they entered the great hall Rogers mood improved vastly in the presence of food and soon he was back to normal, breakfast was of course delicious, but everyone's focus was turned away from the food as the hoot of owls indicated that the morning mail was here.

Dozens of owls flew into the great hall, two of which Harry recognized, the first was charlus the potter family owl and the second was sylvar the black family owl. Watching as charlus flew over to the Griffindor table, where his siblings each retrieved a letter from him before he flew off.

"Why am I not surprised." Harry thought silently as he watched on, after which he saw sylvar fly towards him to leave an outstretched leg. Retrieving the letter Harry fed the owl some bacon, noticing that the letter was from Sirius Remus and Emilia brightened his day, reading the letter he couldn't help but smile at their well wishes.

Soon though Lisa would drag them to the dungeons for their first lesson with professor Snape. The potions classroom the first years were using was squared-sized, very large, with large tables and windows. In the corner resided a stone basin used to wash students' hands and ladles for use. The basic atmosphere for the room was basically damp and cold, rather similar to their professor in question.

Harry and Roger noticed Draco, tracy, daphne, anastasia and another guy Harry was unfamiliar with talking in one corner while Nott and his group, which included pansy parkinson, milificent bulstrode and crab and goyle resided in inother area. Harry was slightly pleased that they didnt get along, Nott though seeing his favorite target present decided to have some fun. Harry expected him to try something along the lines of insulting him infront of everyone so that Harry would attack him and in doing so incite snapes wrath when he entered the room. Before Nott could say anything though Harry cut him off.

"Let me guess, you were going to call me the extra potter or squib or some other insult, am i right ?" Harry asked dissmisively, to which Roger actually giggled like a little girl in amusement. As Draco and company looked on with amusement while walking to the group in case Harry would need some help.

"How dare you talk to me like that you filthy half blood, although i guess that mudblood mother of yours failed to teach you manners then." Nott said with a sneer. Those present that had met the potters before, mainly Draco, Roger, anastasia, tracy and daphne froze. Lily potter was widely regarded by many, even pure bloods and such an insult was taking things too far. Roger, who looked like he was about to tackle Nott was stopped by Harrys outstretched hand. Harry was actually really pleased that his new found friends were trying to defend him but cedrics warning wrang in his mind, so Harry decided that this was an insult that needed to be rebutted with another insult.

"Well i dont think your in a very good position to be talking about ancestry and parentage, after all isnt your mother also your fathers niece ?" Harry asked with an innocent expression on his face, to which Nott's face turned to stone. Harry knew that it was usually at this point that Nott would set his pet bulls on to him, but was at the moment reserved as this time Harry actually had friends with him. Draco and company were at the moment trying not to laugh at Harrys words, Roger on the other hand held none of these reservations as he was at the moment laughing out loud.

Finally Nott decided to cut his losses and walked away from Harry to sulk in the front of the potions classroom. Draco walked over with a rather amused grin on his face,

"I would never have known you had it in you." he said, but Harry simply shrugged in response.

Professor snape entered the classroom at that moment with his black robes billowing behind him. "how does he do that ? theres no wind down here." Harry thought for a moment.

Sitting with Roger at a work table fit for two, Harry watched as snape, like all the other professors began his yearly introduction, albiet with a bit more swagger then other professors.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word—like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Harry, was at the moment letting himself drift off as he was probably the only one in the school who had as much knowledg on the subject as the professor himself. Harry had afterall re read the text book over 5 times already. He did not notice the look that professor snape was at the moment sending his way.

"Mr potter, since you are seem to be able to not pay attention in my class could you tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood ?" Snape sneered.

" Th-"

"Or perhaps where I would find a Bezoar ?"

"I-"

"What about the differences between monkshood and wolfs bane ?"

At this point Harry believed that he wouldn't be allowed to answer any of the questions and so simply sat there in silence looking at the professor.

"You clearly should spend less time gazing about and more time paying attention in my class Mr potter, 20 points from Ravenclaw." Snape punished, as Harry watched on with a passive expression not willing to challenge Snape in anyway.

Looking at the class Snape sneered once more, pointing to the board. "Your assignment is on the board, you and your partner have until the end of the lesson to complete it." as the class moved in unison to begin their potion.

Harry was in for some misfortune this day though as Roger for his skill in other subjects, was absolutely horrible in potions and Harry was kept on his toes just to stop the potion from exploding. When all seemed well to Harry, he decided to go and get some more ingredients as they had pretty much used all of them already. Taking a few steps from the work bench Harry turned when he heard a loud bang sound, as Roger was now covered with their supposed boil cure potion most likely suffering from 1st degree burns, Harry looked to his left and nearly groaned when he saw a furious Snape rushing to the table.

"This cant be good." Harry thought bleakly.

"What happened ?" Snape asked menacingly.

"I'm not sure the potion was fine until it turned red and..."

"20 points from Ravenclaw !" Snape commanded.

"Potter ! Bring Davies to the hospital wing, and don't bother coming back after." Snape hollered as Harry and Davies made a swift exit from the potions dungeons.

As they walked to the hospital wing Roger paused for a moment in deep contemplation,

"What ?" Harry asked.

"Do you think we passed the assignment ?" Roger asked cheekily, as Harry shot him an irritatedly glare, before grabbing him roughly on the shoulder and dragging him behind him.

"Ow, ow, ow."

"Hey show more compassion, injured person here." Roger complained

"If you can joke your not in any danger." Harry scoffed as he continued to drag Roger along behind him.

As they entered the hospital wing, madam Promfrey looked appalled when she saw the state that Roger was in, "What happened ?" she asked

"Potions class." Harry answered

madam Promfrey sighed deeply, "I always get one student everyday from potions, you'd think that professor Snape would be more aware of his class." she complained as Harry and Roger shared a look.

"Come along now." she said, as she waved them along , pointing at one of the beds, Roger sat down and madam Promfrey grabbed a circular jar from the shelves and as she opened it Harry and Roger got a whiff of a foul smelling odor that made them cringe visibly.

"What were you expecting it to smell like, flowers ?" madam Promfrey asked irritatedly, before she began lathering it on Rogers skin. In a few minute Rogers skin was back to its unblemished form as the cream dissolved, after giving him the once over madam Promfrey told them they could leave.

"Now be careful you two." she warned as they left the hospital wing

"Come on if we rush we wont be late for charms." Harry said, as the boys broke out into a slow jog. They would in the end make good time as they would get to the charms classroom as their own housemates arrived. Classroom 2E where charms lessons were held was found of the third floor of the charms corridor, the classroom in question has three rows of desks, all facing the teacher's table, behind which sits a large upholstered chair with a high back. Two blackboards flank the teacher's table, and behind them is a small shelf with books and other objects, beneath a pair of windows. As Harry and Roger walked in they spotted two seats behind cho and Lisa and made thier way to them. As they sat down the two girls turned around to face them.

"Are you okay ?" cho asked with obvious concern on her features.

"Yeah im fine, just some minor burns nothing a good balm couldnt cure." Roger said dismissively.

"What on earth did you do to make that potion explode ?" Lisa asked curiously.

"I dont know." Roger answered truthfully.

"I cant believe the two of you lost 40 points in potions." Lisa grumbled.

"Its less then what charlie lost, and im sure youll make that up in this lesson." Harry said, as Lisa shot him a rather displeased look.

"Still you guys should be more responsible then that." Lisa added

"Well try." Roger said mockingly, as Harry and cho laughed silently while Lisa looked completely outraged. Professor flitwick soon found his way into the class room and Harry soon found himself drifting off again as he caught sight of Lisa waving her hand around like a mad women.

The rest of the day was thus not as interesting after the excitement in potions and soon Harry and friends found themselves in the library doing their homework, on Lisa's insistence. Draco cedric daphne and tracy came into the library spotting the 4 Ravenclaws, they walked towards the table.

" Im shocked, ravenclaws in the library." Draco drawled, as Roger shoto Lisa a dirty look.

"Its not like im here by choice." Roger answered, to which Lisa gave Roger an imperious expression.

"Youll thank me when you have to hand up your work." she said

"I highly doubt that." Harry commented, as Lisa glared at him while the rest giggled in amusement.

"Anyway im sure introductions are in order. Im Draco malfoy, this is Anastasia zabini, Tracy Davis and Daphne Greengrass, I believe youve already met Cedric." Draco introduced as Cho and Lisa returned the greetings.

"Could we sit ?" Tracy asked, to which the four ravenclaws nodded.

While the 5 newcomers sat down and began withdrawing their homework from their bags, Harry was at the moment trying to rush through his last assignment, professor mcgonigals transfiguration essay. Finishing it, Harry inspected his work and found it acceptable and began packing up his work while taking out 'transfiguration and its uses' he was taking much longer to finish it then normal and was getting rather irritated with that fact. Lisa though noticed how quickly Harry was finished and raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Your done already ?" she asked with obvious skepticism in her tone.

"Yeah." Harry said simply, but stopped when he noticed Lisas outstretched hand, it was Harrys turn to raise his eyebrow.

"Let me see it" she said

"Are you serious ?" Harry asked, but her expression simply made him sigh deeply and hand his asignment over. As she read through his work Harry noticed her furrowed brow and knew she was preparing to start an arguement so he 'braced for impact'.

"Surely you can do better then this, at best this will get you an acceptable." Lisa scolded. As the others watched the duo with interest.

Harry shrugged in response, " Its not like assignments matter,it doesnt even count in the examinations."

Lisa actually stuttered at Harrys easy dismisal, "bu-, how can you jus-."

"Hah, a ravenclaw that doesnt care about homework, now ive seen everything." Draco laughed loudly. As the others laughed merrily at his joke, till madam pince had to shush them and ask them to quite down. Even Lisa smiled for however brief a moment. As for once she decided to let it go,

"There may still be hope to break her from her academic obsession, Harry thought to himself.

As the others finished their work Harry was incredibly pleased that he managed to finaly finsh his book and was glad that he was finaly able continue his reading. Harry though found that he would need to find a way to spend more time reading, but was at the moment stuck, with his new friends and school he didnt really have the time to read. Unless he read up in class, Harry stopped himself though as an idea came to him.

"Now thats an idea." Harry thought to himself. As the others packed up and they made their way out off the library.

"Well we better get back to the common room before professor snape goes on his rounds." Draco said

"He wouldnt be pleased to find us out of the common room." Anastasia commented as everyone laughed in agreement.

Saying their good byes they made their way to their seperate common rooms, as they got into the ravenclaw common room the group split up as Harry and Roger went to the boys dorm while Cho and Lisa said their good nights and went to the girls dorm.

Lying on his bed Harry thought back to the days events and a smile creeped on his face before he fell into a deep sleep, thus concluding his second day at hogwarts.

The following months were something of a dissapointment for Harry as he found himself far too ahead of the other students for the lessons to be productive. His personal studies though were vastly improving, Harry had taken to charming and glamouring his own books to look like the textbooks he was suppossed to read, thanks to the obsessiveness of ravenclaws with grades and answering questions Harry was able to stay out of his professors radar. The only two lessons that held any sort of challenge for Harry was potions and history of magic. History of magic, because it was a subject that Harry didnt focus on previously and the professor in question, a ghost called Binns, was able to knock any student out immediately even Lisa was not exemptded from this. Only Harry was able to stay awake but using every single ounce of his concentration to do so, it was in fact the only subject that Harry was putting any effort in. Potions though Harry was forced to keep on his toes due to 2 things, snape watching him so closely and Rogers horrible potion brewing skills.

Speaking of lessons Harry soon found that lessons with the Griffindors were differrent then other lessons as the five were, like him ahead of most students due to their private lessons and yet were not as low key as Harry in their knowledge. Apart from that, it seemed that the brown haired girl from the sorting had gotten pretty close with Celia and Rose. This witch by the name of Hermione Granger, was almost exactly like Lisa, but in Griffindor. Lisa actualy got on really well with the brown haired Griffindor and the two were competing constantly in lessons for the teachers attention.

If anything was going well for Harry though it was in his relationship with his new friends. The group had taken up the habit of studying and doing their work together in the library. In this case it was Harry rushing through his work so that he could read while the rest did their work normally. As Lisa predicted Harry was just getting an acceptable for his assignments, but harry wasnt really bothered about that despite Lisa's constant nagging.

Harry soon found himself getting closer to his friends, Lisa and Cho had eventually hit it off with Anastasia, Tracy and Daphne. The five of them were currently planning a get together at malfoy manor over christmas. Harry now couldnt really imagine a life without any of them, even Lisa.

So harry developed a routine at hogwarts, in the morning he would take his usual run around the black lake. Then he would read his 'textbooks' during lessons, then he would join his friends in the library where they would study together till curfew. This would generally be what harry went through for the next two months.

Unbeknownst to many students though, every two months the professors would share supper with the head master, a progress report of sorts. At the moment all the professors were sitting in a room designed in red and gold on a round table. Each of them drinking a cup of tea while Albus Dumbledore entered the room in his common unique or rather freakish fashion sense.

As Dumbledore sat down he flashed his patented grandfatherly smile, "So, how are we doing so far ?" and continued his smiling as he was met by silence. Everyone knew which students he was interested in and who he wanted to know about.

"Well we seem to have a much larger group then normal, and their level of skill seems to be better then normal at the same time." professor mcgonigall answered easily as the head master nodded in agreement.

"Many are able to catch on to new spells with relative ease." she added as he simply continued nodding.

"What of the five ?" he asked easily, but even a blind hobo could see the keen interest hiding behind those twinkling eyes.

"They show the signs of people whove been trained by you for over 4 years." professor Flitwick answered. To which dumbledore smiled happily, when he heard Snape scoff though that smile faded for a moment.

"Your thoughts Severus ?"

"They may show some small measure of skill." snape sneered, at which the other professors tried their best not to roll their eyes. They had seen the skill of the 5 chosen ones and it wouldnt be wrong to say that they all had incredible talent.

"But they are becoming too arogant thanks to your tutoring." snape reprimanded. Dumbledore closely observed the other professors as Snape made the remark and realised that many of them agreed slightly with the potions professors views.

"They have been slacking off a bit during class Albus. And because they already know what is being taught it is difficult to reprimand them." minerva remarked, to which some of the other professors agreed.

"Im sure that will pass as they mature." the headmaster replied assuriedly. Snape at the moment was rolling his eyes, it was after all common for the headmaster to protect his precious chosen ones.

"Now are there other promising students this year ?" the head master queried signalling the discussion over.

"Actually there are, I find miss Granger and miss Turpin to have exceptional knowledge and skill with what is being taught, im sure that at the end of the year they would test at the level of the chosen ones." professor mcgongigall answered, as many professors nodded in agreement.

"Other students like Mr Malfoy and Mr Diggory show as much promise headmaster." professor Flitwick offered as the Albus simply continued nodding.

"What of Harry Potter ?" he asked, geniunely curious as Harry Potter represented one of the few times he was wrong, he had after all thought the boy to be a squib.

The professors looked at each other, as if waiting to see if anyone would say something. At their head masters constant gaze though Mcgonigal in the end decided to say something.

"Well his results have been average, all the assignments that i have recieved from him are usually of acceptable standard, and in lessons he does not show as much drive as the other Ravenclaws like miss Turpin. He tries as can be seen from his studying of the text books but overall he seems to be an average wizard at best." she said, looking around to see the agreeing faces of her collegues.

"I see, how are the NEWT students doing then ?"the head master said, banishing the thoughts on the eldest potter from his mind, a rather huge error some would say.

**And thats the chapter, not to worry all as some one with Harry's tallent wont stay hidden for long, by his second year 3 to 4 chapters from now. Next updates should be in latest 2 weeks time cause its the christmas period now so i may take a little time to write it. And yes lisa does seem alot like hermione but thats only the academic obsession, shes otherwise different ish as youll see next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Trolls,Quidditch,Christm

**To break out of a shadow**

**A/N : Hey guys im baaack, I know its been 3 weeks and I said I would get the next chapter to you by 2 weeks, but I just got so distracted what with Christmas, new years, and for you gamers out there the steam winter sale. For your patience though I give to you an extra long chapter with 10 900 words, excluding this a/n of course, so please forgive me (bows repeatedly on knees)**

**For those of you who aren't interested you can skip the rest of the bold and head right for the story. I'm taking the assumption that most of you will skip but im writing this anyway god damn it, it may seem a little pathetic (because it is) but here we go.**

**On the matter of your comments, to those who have been reading the authors notes repeatedly you will realize that I have been answering comments in the a/n. I wont be answering all comments though, just those that have been constantly asked or talked about (like the neglect vs abuse conundrum) or those that I feel need to be explained to help the flow of the story. I probably wont say anything if its a spoiler though but if you really want an answer then send me a private message. All review welcome questions are fine, constructive criticisms too, as for the good job and update soon posts... (love them lol) their like crack, but they don't kill you or ruin your life.**

**Now the comment to be discussed today will be about Harry's work and his teachers attitude to him, that's right mystolon this ones for you. What you must understand is that harry is a super genius of that there is no doubt, but where homework is concerned he still needs to put in effort to score that A or O whichever you prefer. He cant just write one super complex line and get the grade. Harry (like so many other students out there in the world) loves learning but hates homework. So he chooses to do the bare minimum as he wants to spend the extra time he would need to get that good grade on other activities, such as reading. So in a manner of speaking yes harry is sabotaging himself. In exams though... well you'll see. Not to mention the fact that harry has little miss Turpin in his class who along with Hermione practically steals the show from our hero.**

**Charlotte Maddox: yeah dark load mis-click (face palm) my bad **

**Disclaimer: I would kill to own harry potter, but I didn't and so I don't.**

**To the story ! (blows imaginary horn)**

Chapter 5: Trolls, Quidditch, Christmas and Detentions

Harry woke up with a start on Halloween morning thanks in part to his recurring nightmares, still sweating Harry got of his bed and began stretching to relieve the stiffness that he felt in his neck and shoulders. Putting on his shoes Harry made his way out of the dormitories and to the black lake, after a good hour of running Harry found himself back in the dormitories where he showered and made his way to wake Roger. To his utter surprise Roger was already awake, his was obviously visible as Roger chuckled in amusement.

"Now this is a surprise. Why are you up so early ?" Harry asked with curiosity evident in his tone.

"Its probably not going to happen often." Roger chuckled

"My family would always wake up early on Halloween so that we could visit my grandparents for our usual celebratory breakfast, so my bodies gotten used to waking up at this time I guess." Roger answered after a brief yawn as he made his way to the bathroom.

Harry cringed visibly as Roger reminded Harry that it was his most hated day, Roger though missed it due in part to his drowsiness, unlike his friend Harry's Halloweens were never that quint. After all it was on this day several years ago that the favoritism Harry suffered under began in all its glory, it was on this day that his parents and their friends would completely forget about Harry and celebrate the five Chosen ones. And in all honesty Harry hated it with a passion, so unlike all the other students and teachers. Harry did not have a wonderful tale of celebration on the anniversary of the end of one of the most prominent dark lords in the world and Harry unlike the thousands of wizards across Britain did not fawn over the 5 on this day.

As Roger made his way out of the bathroom Harry grabbed his bag and made his way out of the dormitories with Roger right behind him. As they made their down the stairs they ran into their roommates who were at the moment in an argument.

"Come on Justin help a guy out." Damien Milton said.

"No way !" Justin said directly.

"Hey guys whats up ?" Roger asked.

"Damien wants to borrow my first edition of 1000 potions and their uses." Justin said as if it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard. At their curious looks he sighed,

"My grand father was a potions master back in the day, he sent me the book as a gift when he heard about how I got into Hogwarts." Justin explained.

"Damien here wanted to borrow the book for his potions assignment." Justin said while looking evidently at Damien, who returned the look with one of exasperation.

"So why don't you just lend him the book ?" Harry asked as Justin looked at him scandalously.

"Do you have any idea how much this 'book' is worth." Justin said.

"Fighting over a book, you guys are bloody mental." Roger muttered as the four laughed and continued down the stairs

As they made their way down the stairs into the common room, it became apparent that today was not going to be like the other days at Hogwarts. As they entered the room Harry noticed a different atmosphere in the common room. It was in a word joyous, even the academic and studious Ravenclaws were incredibly happy on this, the day when the dark lord fell. Many of whom were talking excitedly with an obvious cheer on their expressions.

"Hey guys, happy Halloween !" Padma Patil greeted them happily.

"Happy Halloween Padma." the four replied. At that moment Harry noticed Cho and Lisa who came towards them with smiles on their faces as well.

" Happy Halloween." they chirped.

"All of you are way too happy in the morning." Harry answered gloomily.

"Oh come on, who doesn't love this time of year, my parents would always bring me trick or treating before we celebrated with my cousins." Cho said lost in thought.

"I know, we would always go overseas for a holiday, all the candy that the flight stewardess gave out..." Justin said while lost in thought.

Harry's face remained expressionless as his friends reminisced about their family traditions on Halloween.

"Come on lets go its about time for breakfast." Padma said as she led them out of the common room.

As the group of Ravenclaws walked to the great hall, Cho, who was at the moment at the back of the group with Harry Lisa and Roger looked at Harry questioningly.

"What about you ?" she asked.

"Hmmm ?" was the only reply he gave her.

"you didn't tell us about your Halloween with your family your celebrating with your siblings so it must have been awesome."

Harry thought about it, for a moment he bounced the idea of telling her the truth, but decided against it, she was his friend she deserved that much, but he didn't want to ruin her mood.

"Its great, we would always hold a huge party, it was fun." Harry said simply before

continuing his walk to the great hall, followed swiftly by the three other Ravenclaws.

Spotting him, his siblings waved at him happily, to which Harry waved back, they had exchanged a variety of greetings and conversations over the months just like when they were at home. But nothing overly impressive. As he made his way into the great hall, Harry spotted Draco and company and smiled at them as Cho,Lisa and Roger waved excitedly. To which the Slytherin's actually waved back with as much enthusiasm.

"I guess even some Slytherin's like Halloween." Harry thought to himself, as he smiled at their waving. Harry spotted Cedric and smiled again as the brown haired Hufflepuff waved at him. Sitting down Harry treated himself to a slightly unhealthy breakfast of bacon and eggs. While silently observing the great hall, Harry noticed the same air of celebration at all the tables, even the teachers tables.

"Is Snape smiling ?" Roger asked incredulously.

"I think he is." Lisa answered just as shocked.

"I guess even Snape likes Halloween." Cho commented

"Either that or he senses misery some where." Roger muttered, as Harry laughed at his friends comments. Needless to say Roger had gained some animosity towards the potions professor seeing as he was getting insulted and scolded by said professor during almost every potions lesson.

"I don't see how you can be so horrible at potions." Lisa scolded.

"It runs in my family, no one has ever made it to Newt level in potions before." Roger rebutted with pride, as Harry and Cho chuckled in response.

"Come on lets go, I don't want to be late." Lisa scowled. As she left the great hall followed swiftly by three giggling Ravenclaws.

Lessons on the day were much more interesting then usual due in part due to the festive mood in the castle. As per normal Harry would read his charmed book while Lisa would swing her arm around like a mad women. Over six hours later the four of them made their way back to the great hall for dinner, as they made their way back in Harry spotted his siblings and their friends just outside the great hall and found them rather subdued. Noticing Harry's consternation, Roger looked at him questioningly.

"Whats up ?" he asked.

"Their not as excited as they were at home or this morning for that matter, im guessing their homesick ?" Harry commented loudly.

"Humph more like guilty." Lisa scoffed.

"What are you talking about ?" Harry asked.

"I was talking to Padma earlier and her sister told her that something happened after the Griffindors had charms lessons this afternoon." Lisa explained.

"What happened?" all three of them asked.

"They were learning Wingardium Leviosa, and the five and Hermione managed to pull the spell off on the first try. Weasley though couldn't, so Hermione tried to help that ungrateful sag of sludge and he snapped at her and brutally insulted her. Your siblings and their friends didn't tell him of and Hermione ran of crying and shes locked herself in the toilet and wont come out now." Lisa all but growled.

"Hopefully shell come out soon." Cho said consolingly to the clearly irritated Lisa.

"Come on, lets go get dinner." Roger said, as he ushered Lisa and Cho into the great hall.

As the four Ravenclaws entered the great hall Roger whistled admiration, the hall was decorated with as many Halloween decorations as possible such as orange streamers, while bats and jack o lanterns flew or floated over the tables. The sky was enchanted differently as well, in a darker style. The food on the tables though were by far the most impressive thing there,candy-filled pumpkins, apples, black cauldRons of big lollipops and carrot cake practically littered the table.

"That cant be healthy." Harry thought to himself as they sat down at the table, while he eyed the truely impressive number of treats on the table.

The halloween feast occured in the highest of festivities, all of the students no matter the house, with a few future death eaters as the exception. The teachers were also in a good mood and even the usually serious professor mcgonagall was smiling openly, not to mention that the teachers were doing nothing to control the students, who were at the moment making noise at or close to party levels.

Harry was at the moment chewing on a rather delicious slice of carrot cake while listening to Roger and Lisa argue over the importance of Roger studying for potions.

"Maybe if you study you wouldnt keep melting or blowing up your cauldRons." Lisa exclaimed.

" I tried it before it wont work, besides snape already hates me it doesnt matter." Roger complained

Lisa frowned, "Yes but if you-" she never finished though as Quirell suddenly burst into the great hall.

"TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" he shouted out, as everyone turned and stared at the stuttering professor.

"Thought you ought to know." he said simply before he fainted, falling forward.

"who falls forward ?" Harry thought to himself.

As Harry thought about Quirells rather weird fainting spell, the hall had completey slipped into Anarchy. All the students were for a lack of a better word freaking out, students were screaming and running around that is until Dumbledore decided to calm the situation.

"Silence !" he commanded, to which all the students immediately calmed themselves.

"Students will procceed to their common rooms led by their prefects, as the teachers and I attend to the troll." he explained.

"Thats kinda stupid." Harry thought out loud as Lisa,Roger and Cho looked at him curiosly.

"Why ?" Cho and Roger asked.

"Wouldnt it be better for hundreds of magical students to stick together instead of taking the risk for them to split up and run into the troll with much smaller numbers ?" Harry asked them rhetorically, as they got up from the Ravenclaw table.

"Thats true." Roger commented as they made a brisk walk out of the great hall towards the Ravenclaw common room.

"I guess the great Dumbledore isnt perfect." Lisa said, before she gasped audibly.

"Hermione ! She doesnt know !" she exclaimed.

"Ill go tell the prefects !" she said before rushing towards penelope.

Harry himself noticed 6 Griffindors running in the opposite direction that their house mates were going in.

"I guess that Lisa isnt the only one that remembered Hermione." Harry thought to himself.

Lisa's concern rubbed of on Harry slightly, Lisa had given a brief introduction before and she had seemed nice enough, and definately didnt deserve to get mauled to death by a troll of all things. Extending his senses Harry tried to sense for her magical core. As his minds eye expanded he saw the entire castle and its inhabitants. He felt the magical cores of his friends and of the faculty while mapping out the castle, noting that Dumbledore had a huge magical core. As this was the first time he had bothered using his magical sense instead of his sight he noticed a variety of interesting cores, one of which he realized was on the forbidden corridor, it wasnt human though.

"So thats what he means by horrible death." Harry thought to himself.

The most interesting though was the man who had fainted in the great hall, professor Quirell. Instead of one singular core Harry felt two, one of which was as big as Dumbledores. Whats more the larger core Harry sensed was darker and yet intangible. This along with Quirell's earlier fainting spell gave Harry the impression that Quirell was one to watch out for.

Continuing his scan of the castle Harry finally found Hermiones core in a first floor bathroom,

"At least shes not in the dungeons." Harry thought to himself.

The moment didnt last though as Harry realized that the troll in question was on a path straight to the girls bathroom, while none of the faculty were anywhere close to the troll. What made matters worse was that Harry sensed the cores of his siblings and their friends heading for Hermione and the troll. Harry knew that unlike the other first years the five had been specially trained by none other then Albus Dumbledore himself, but even then he knew they would never be able to take down a fully grown troll. Left with no Choice Harry lagged to the back of the group before running towards the first floor bathrooms, thankfully everyone was too busy worrying about the troll to notice a first year Ravenclaw slip away from the crowd.

Running through the halls Harry heard the sounds of a battle going on up ahead, Harry smelt the troll before seeing it, making a right turn around the corner Harry saw the five Chosen ones, Hermione and Ron in a desperate struggle against the troll. The troll was a twelve foot mountain troll that could only be described as ugly. His siblings and their friends were clumped up together sending a truly impressive number of spells at said troll but the troll was after all resistant to magic, it was shrugging of their Stupefies like it was nothing. Not to mention Weasley and Hermione hadnt actually learned any combatitive spells yet and were helpless in such a situation. Harry for one thing was at least glad that they had managed to get Hermione to relative safety amongst them. Looking on, Harry noticed the troll had gotten closer and swung its large bat right at the 7 Griffindors who had clumped together. His brother Neville and Sean tried to throw up a sheild,

"_Corporeus Scutum_" the three shouted as a blue colored viel appeared in front of the group, and promptly blocked the trolls club, the troll was not to be dissuaded though and swung again this time shattering the shield and throwing the seven Griffindor's across the hall way and into the walls, as they slipped into unconsciusness.

Harry brought himself back into focus and immediately ran straight for the troll, the troll, spotting a new running target turned to face Harry. Harry wasting no time, flung his threstral wand from left to right sending several cutting curses towards the troll. Not bothering to control his magic and actually funnelling more power into the wand, Harry immediately saw the results as several large gashes appeared on the trolls body as blood spurted from its wounds dirtying the floor. Harry tried to move the troll away from the Griffindors and sent a bludgeoning spell right at the troll. As the troll was sent flying backwards into a wall. Standing up the troll roared out loud as Harry sent two bonebreaking spells its way effectively breaking both of the trolls kneecaps, as the troll knelt on the floor Harry sent one final reducto at it. All the while watching as the troll sunk to the floor. Expanding his vision again Harry spotted the faculty who were at the moment heading this way, obviously due to the noise the troll made. What surprised Harry thought was that two teachers were at the moment heading for the third floor forbidden corridor, one of which was querill and the other was snape. Curious Harry made sure his siblings and their friends were fine, the shield had after all lessened the trolls strike, before enervating them and rushing to the third floor.

Harry knew that he could have taken the credit for defeating the troll but who would believe him, definately not the faculty who Harry knew thought of him as an average student. Harry hadnt bothered correcting them as they would usually focus more on those that were extremely weak or those that were exceedingly good, leaving him alone to read at his own pleasure.

"No one cares for the mediocre." Harry chuckled, to Harry the mystery of the third floor corridor was far more appealing then credit that he might not actually get.

Rushing on Harry found himself near the forbidden corridor and spotted snape exiting the door with a bloody leg. Harry was still curious as to the potions professors part in all of this, it was obvious at this point that Quirell had let the troll in to distract people so that he could get into the forbidden corridor. But at the moment it seemed snape had beat him to it and was swiftly rewarded with a bloody leg. Opening his senses again Harry noticed that the defense professor was already making his way to the other faculty and Harry guessed that thats where snape was going as well. Making sure that snape had left Harry made his way to the door that snape had just exited from, it was locked but a simple Alohamora was enough to open it. Making his way into the room Harry found himself face to face with an incredibly large three headed dog, who was at the moment looking rather menacingly at Harry. Harry gulped audibly as he slowly made his way back out the door, to his surprise the dog stared on but didnt do anything, allowing Harry to lock the door behind him and to make his way back to the Ravenclaw common room.

As he entered the common room Harry saw all the Ravenclaws sitting in it finishing up their meal, making his way to the first years. He caught his three friends attention, and they rushed towards him.

"Where the hell were you !" Roger demanded.

"I went to the bathroom." Harry lied easily.

"While a troll's running around the castle ?" Cho asked incredibly.

"Were on the fifth floor the trolls in the dungeons, I would have been fine." Harry answered.

"Of all the crazy," Lisa began ranting, giving Harry quite an earfull.

Later Harry went back into dormitry and laid on his bed as the days events replayed in his mind, especially the events concerning a certain defense against the dark arts teacher.

The excitement in Hogwarts slowly dissapated over the following two weeks, as per Harry's expectations his students were given the credit for the defeat of the troll subsequently gaining 200 points for Griffindor. Harry was slightly curious and paid a visit into the minds of the children who lived. They did not remember what had happened on account of them being knocked out by the troll. Looking at the troll though, with its many wounds, the great Albus Dumbledore concluded that the five Chosen ones in a bit of desperation had managed to show some truly remarkble bouts of magic that super charged their normal stupefies and changed it into more deadly spells that finally defeated the troll. It was believable, as they had defeated the dark lord with some unknown bout of magic as well. The students believed it, and their parents believed, even the five believed it. So the excitement that had built up had slowly dissapated as normalcy returned to the students of Hogwarts.

As the excitement died down quickly though, it soon began building up again as the first game of quidditch for the semester was set to begin. Harry was at the moment reading a book on the quidditch stands as the first game of the year, Griffindor vs Slytherin was set to begin.

Harry, and for one part Lisa, would have rather been at the library but the problem with being friends with two incredibly obsessed quidditch fans was that watching the matches was compulsory. Seeing as it was the first quidditch match for the semester everyone was there, the stands were completely packed even if those watching did not belong to the houses competing. What made the situation far more compelling was that the two houses in question were constantly embroilled in a bitter competition.

Across their seats Harry spotted his siblings and their friends who were at the moment swinging Griffindor flags. Unlike them, Harry wasnt so crazy about quidditch. He loved flying though but not quidditch, the wind against his hair the freedom of flying in the night sky it completely exilirated him. Some of his most fond memories involved him 'borrowing' his siblings brooms and flying under the dark night sky. A whistle sound brought him to the present though as the game was on,

"Angelina Johnson has the quaffle she passes to Katie Bell who charges towards the goals, she shoots WAIT ! it was a feint she passes back to Angelina who scores! 10 points to Griffindor. The score is now 10-0 in the favor of the Griffindors." the commentator, Lee Jordan called.

As the match went on the air of excitement was clearly building in the crowd, most of whom were cheering for the Griffindors, not surprising considering the way most of Slytherin house acts to the other three houses. Even Lisa was no longer reading and was paying the game her utmost attention. Harry was honestly passive, it was interesting but not incredible.

Suddenly though screams of horror sounded from the crowd and Harry turned his attention in the directions of the screams. Looking at the opposite end of the stands Harry spotted his siblings alone in the middle of the stand as other students scrambled away from them. Looking up Harry noticed the two bludgers had decided to stop chasing the players and start chasing his siblings and their friends, Harry only spotted six of them though.

"What the hell is going on !" Roger shouted.

"I dont know ?" Lisa admitted, Harry would have laughed out loud if the situation wasnt so dire.

"Someone has to be doing this ! Theres no way a normal bludger would go so out of it." Cho hollered over the shouts and screams of the crowd.

Agreeing with Cho Harry used his magic sight, his siblings and their friends had used the same spell they used to protect themselves from the troll. The bludgers although hard did not have the same level of force as a troll and so the shield held firm but was deifinately taking a toll on the five Chosen ones. Using his sight Harry saw eveything through the view point of magic Harry could see the magic in the air and in everyone present even their cores were more identifiable. Focusing on the bludgers Harry noticed 2 strands of magic radiating from the bludgers one was unsurprisingly from Quirell, Harry's sense of suspicion against the defense against the dark arts teacher had been steadly growing over the past few weeks and there wasnt anything that seemed to disprove his thoughts. The other was rather surprising in that it was one professor Severus Snape. Harry had a feeling in his gut that told him severus snape was on their side, firstly due to the fact that when snape got to the room first Quirell didnt go there anymore. Seeing as Quirell was the one to let the troll in to get into the room, while snape acted like he was protecting it. So in this situation snape must be trying to protect the five while Quirell tried to kill them.

Before Harry could do anything though a fire burst out amongst the teachers stands catching Snapes robes on fire and breaking both of the mens eye contact with the bludgers effectively ending the spell. To a normal wizards view point it was a freak accident that had no explanation, to Harry though it wasnt. With his wizard sight active Harry noticed the magical core of a certain brown haired Griffindor sneaking under the stands.

Harry whose thoughts were now running through what he had just seen and what it meant was no longer focusing on the game, which ended in a surprising victory for Griffindor as Slytherin's seeker had caught the snitch just as the gap in points widened to 160 points.

Needless to say Harry spent the rest of his time at Hogwarts before Christmas break trying to put the pieces in order to explain Quirell's motives and actions. Harry had even taken to following his siblings and their friends around once in awhile to see what they knew. At first though he was slightly dissapointed as his siblings were clearly on the wrong track, the 7 of them had jumped to the conclusion that snape had been behind everything. It wasnt a total loss though as following them Harry found himself present when they confronted Rubeus Hagrid, it was definately an enlightening experiance.

"So they met Hagrid the day we went to diagon alley and he had a small pouch in his hand that he labelled as 'Hogwarts business', later that day gringotts was robbed but the vault in question was emptied out on that very same day and now this year is so special that it has a forbidden corridor and a room with a cerburus guarding a trap door, which Quirell is most likely trying to get into. Very interesting and whats the alchemic master Nicholas Flamel got to do with this, unless..."

"But it cant be."

"who'd be stupid enough to try and hide the philosephers stone in a school of children, while practically broad casting its location to everyone in the school at the same time. And why would Quirell try to rob the stone under Dumbledores nose of all things, all the gold you could imagine and immortality is quite tempting but not really worth the high chances of getting caught, unless theres more that the stone can offer" Harry thought to himself.

The pieces had been falling together and Harry was now gaining a larger picture of the entire situation, but he still lacked the the final pieces of the puzzle as far as Quirells motivation went. Harry wouldnt be able to grasp it as of yet though as the Christmas break soon arrived. Harry then found himself on the Hogwarts express, sitting in a compartment with Draco, Daphne, Tracy, Anastasia, Roger,Lisa, Cho and Cedric was incredibly amusing to say the least the 8 friends were playing a variety of games and had spent the time simply catching up. At the moment Draco was inviting them over on boxing day,

"So ? Can you guys come over or not ?" he asked

"Sure." Harry replied immediately followed by the rest of the compartment, he didnt need to ask his parents as they probably wouldnt miss him anyway.

"Great, you guys have to try dobby's deserts their delicious." Draco mentioned.

"You are such a sugar obsessed freak some times." Roger commented, Draco though returned the comment with a glare and a sneer. As Harry laughed at the exchange causing Draco to direct that same stare at Harry.

"I wouldnt mind learning how to bake." Tracy admitted, at Harry's questioning gaze she blushed slightly.

"The last time I made my dad a fathers day cake he got sick for a week." she admited sheepishly. As the rest of the group chuckled in admiration.

"Its not that bad, at least I didnt blow up the kitchen." she said defensively while pointedly looking at Anastasia, who stared back at her with a rather impressive glare.

"I didnt blow up the kitchen...I just set the stove on fire..." she muttered.

"Remind me never when either of you cook." Draco commented, as Anastasia and Tracy turned and stared at him in response.

Draco smiled nervously at the two, "I was kidding, kidding." he said ernestly.

Harry smiled, he knew that Draco and Ana were arranged to wed based on some old agreement between ancestors, their relationship had started out as a contractial obligation and Harry had expected them to be slightly cold towards each other. That didnt seem to happen though as it turned out that both of them had taken a liking to each other a few years back and had hit it off nicely, needless to say one did not have to guess who was wearing the pants in that relationship. Especially when one of them was getting back up from Tracy at the moment.

"The great Malfoy humbled, well done Ana he may have some hope left." Daphne commented as Roger and Cedric roared with laughter.

Draco stared at the girl, "Such hurtfull comments Ice queen."

"You'd better believe it." she replied with an obvious smirk plastered across her face.

" Ice queen ?" Lisa asked, ever the curious one.

"Thats what some of the boys in our house and other houses have started calling her ever since she hexed some second year Griffindor in the bits for bumping into her and not apologizing." Draco explained, as Roger Choked on his every flavored bean.

"You what !" he exclaimed

" I was having a bad day." she aswered evenly.

"So the cure for that is to hex someone in a particularly sensitive area." Harry asked curiously.

"Exactly." she answered an evil smile on her face as the girls laughed while the boys paled, and simultaeniously corssed their legs

Soon the express pulled in and made its stop at Kings Cross Station, as they grabbed their trunks and made their way out of the train.

"Well go get our parents, where will you guys be ?" Cho asked.

"Probably over there somewhere." Cedric indicated as Cho and Lisa split from the group.

Following his friends Harry was searching for not his parents but Sirius, who had written to Harry telling him that he would be coming. Harry found Sirius with his friends parents, Sirius at the moment was talking to Narcissa Malfoy. As the group approached the children greeted and hugged their parents, as expected considering they hadnt even seen each other in months, as Harry walked up to Sirius.

"Hey Sirius." Harry said happily.

"Heya pup." Sirius smiled back with just as much happiness.

"So, how was your year so far ?" Sirius asked.

"Not bad i guess." Harry answered.

Some of his friends parents though had greeted their children already and were at the moment studying Harry rather closely.

"You must be Harry." Abram Davies said, while smiling kindly at Harry.

"Yes, im Harry, Harry Potter." he replied, as confusion creeped onto many of the adults faces, their children silently cursed themselves for not telling their parents about Harry's familial status.

"Potter as in-"

"Yes im Rose and Charlie's eldest triplet." Harry answered with a smile.

"Its nice to meet you." he added.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere Sirius dragged Harry along with him. "well we better go look for Lily and James."

"bye, see you guys on boxing day" Harry said, as his friends waved him good bye, as they waved back to him in return.

"Is he really their brother." Narcissa asked Draco, to which he nodded.

"Thats funny I dont remember seeing him at the Potters before." Lucius said while despreately trying to remember the eldest potter.

"Well then lets go then were just about the only ones left in the station." Lucius mentioned while indicating the now emptying staion, before the families left for their respective homes.

...

Harry awoke as the suns rays finally penetrated the curtains, stretching as he yawned Harry looked at the time and discovered that he had overslept. He promptly forgave himself though as it had been months since he had actually slept in his own bed. Harry made his way to the shower to wash up and upon coming out of said shower room he was struck with a shocking revelation, Harry immediately moved to the phone and called Sirius up.

"Hello ?" Sirius answered drowsilly.

"Sirius could Remus and you meet me in diagon alley later today ?" Harry asked

"Sure ive got some days off i could use. Remus just dealt with his furry problem last night though so he might not be up to it. Whats up ?" Sirius asked.

"Ill tell you later, see you there." Harry answered before getting ready to head for diagon alley.

...

"I cant believe you didnt get anyone a present." Sirius ranted as the two walked down diagon alley

"Its not my fault, usually i dont need to worry about this kind of stuff, i just focus on you auntie em and Remus usually i completely forgot that i had other people to shop for." Harry answered honestly.

"Fine fine come on lets go and get those gifts" Sirius complained

"Ill meet you in Flourish and Blots bookshop I need to go and get some money first" Harry said

"I could always lend you some" Sirius said.

"I have my trust fund remember, go on ill meet you there" Harry said while waving Sirius off.

As the two split up Harry made his way to that all too familiar white building with its two goblin guards at the front. Harry actually didn't need to get money as he had his pouch, he did however receive a letter that said he needed to visit to discuss his accounts, and so he made his way there. Entering the building in question Harry couldn't help but gawk in admiration at the lobby, it hadn't changed a bit and still had every single inch of the room made of gold.

Seeing the long queues in the bank Harry chuckled slightly it seemed that he wasn't the only doing some last minute shopping selecting what seemed to be the shortest queue Harry began waiting for his chance to collect his money. He hadn't even been waiting for five minutes though when he felt a small hand tap him on the back. Turning around Harry spotted a rather diminutive creature that he had met when he first came to get some money.

_"Snaggletooth how are you doing."_ Harry said in gobbledegook.

Snaggletooth smiled that toothy smile of his, _"perfectly fine Harry, i suppose your here to because of the letter ?"_

At Harry's nod the goblin said, _"follow me Harry well go call Griphook and i believe director Ragnok would like to see you again as well."_

_"But the queue."_

_"Come now Harry your a friend of the goblin nation and of director Ragnok himself. Surely we can afford to give you some special privelages. The next time you need to speak to us or withdraw some money you can simply head to one of the counters and announce yourself and your purpose and any goblin will be more then happy to help you." _The goblin continued with what Harry could only qualify as a sincere smile, to which Harry returned with as much sincerity.

_"Thank you Snaggletooth"_

The goblin chuckled _"No thanks necessary"_ he said as he directed Harry into a dark room that looked a lot like the one that he had been in the first time he paid the goblins a visit.

As the two sat down snaggletooth spoke _" Griphook and director Ragnok will be here shortly. Would you like a drink ?"_

At Harry's nod the goblin passed him a cup of tea. As Harry drank the door opened and Ragnok and Griphook stepped into the room.

_"Harry ! Its good to see you."_ The goblin director said as Harry returned the greetings

_"Its good to see you as well Ragnok you too Griphook."_ he said in the direction of the goblin in question who smiled back.

_"So, whats wrong with my accounts ?"_ Harry asked.

Griphook passed Harry a piece of paper _" this is the information concerning your investment account, well go over what needs to be done after you look through that."_ He said indicating the paper.

As Harry read through it though his eyes got larger and larger at the number he was faced with. _"_

_How, how did you..."_ Harry stammered at a loss for words.

_"As it says there your bank account now has just over one hundred thousand galleons."_ Griphook pointed out.

_"But its only been three months, and that's over a three hundred percent increase !"_ Harry exclaimed.

_"Harry, not only are you a friend of the goblin nation but your also what i would consider a close friend now, and i don't have many close friends who are wizards, so we obviously took your account as a priority when investing."_ Ragnok explained.

_"But how ?"_ Harry asked genuinely curious.

_"Well actually it was your allowance for us to expand into the muggle world that allowed us to expand so quickly."_ Griphook explained.

But at Harry's continued curious expression he decided to further clarify. _"Harry you must understand that most wizards only invest within the wizarding economy, due to either a misplaced idea that the difference of the currency makes the wizarding economy more profitable or due to their blood prejudices. However despite the strength of the galleon to any other currency the population of wizarding to non wizarding individuals is in a ratio of around 1 is to 1000. The muggle economy is thus much larger and much easier to invest in, in your case we used all of your funds in stock markets over the world along with our 'special' process of prediction allowing them to triple over night. In fact that amount stated in your report is not accurate in the least as that just indicates the amount in your vaults. You quite a large sum of funds that are at the moment tied up in a variety of investments in various companies both wizarding and muggle alike, from which we expect to soon sprout profits. Which we plan to use to fund future investments."_ He explained.

Harry was at the moment stunned at the news of his new found wealth, he was for the first time in his life speechless

_"What companies have you invested in ?" he asked still slightly dazed from the revelation._

_"Well one of the more is promising muggle companies is known as Apple. It had some rough patches in its past but it has been highly profitable lately." _Griphook said.

_"This brings about the issue of security, as you know we experienced a break in a few months back and so Gringotts is now undergoing a complete security overhaul Your vault with its future earnings from investments will probably be one of the most prominent of the vaults in Gringotts."_ He explained

_"So we called you here to discuss about your security options. We could equip your vault with blood wards tuned into your blood or would you like a ring lock system. We could also move your vault to the dragon security zone. To do all of that would probably cost around 1000 galleons as well as 100 galleons a month to maintain."_ They offered.

_"One question, the blood wards will they allow people of my blood in or just me?_" Harry asked.

_"The wards can be refined to only allow you."_ Griphook explained _"Then i guess we could do that"_ Harry said, as all four of them stood up.

_"Thank you for informing me about my account as well as the great job you've done so far."_ Harry said. _"Once again it was only possible thanks in part to your trust." _Ragnok said.

_"May your vaults overflow and your enemies cry out in terror."_ Harry greeted as the four goblins returned the greeting.

_"It was good to see you Harry, i hope you could visit again sometime."_ Ragnok said as Harry nodded in agreement, before making his way out of the bank.

It was in the end a good idea of Harry's to ask Sirius to come with him while he was gift shopping. Harry despite his new found wealth found that he was utterly horrible at buying gifts. Gifts for Sirius Remus and Emilia were always simple in that Harry had known them for ages and thus knew exactly what to get for them. Gifts for his new found friends though was something else entirely. The only one of which Harry actually knew what to get for was actually Lisa, books what else could the Ravenclaw want.

With Sirius's help though Harry did mAnage to get good gifts for all of his new found friends. For Roger, Cedric and Cho, the more quiditch obsessed, Harry got got them cleaning kits for their brooms and books on quiditch. For Draco, or sugar obsessed snake, as Roger liked to call him Harry bought candy, muggle candy which had all the sugar but not the danger of berties box of magic beans. As for Tracy Daphne and Anastasia Harry got them all books on the basic skills of cooking, he found that after all the muggle books were still far more detailed then wizarding cookbooks which usually relied on the use of spells to cook. Harry had even mAnaged to excuse himself from Sirius for a moment to sneak into knockturn alley and buy over a 500 grams worth of dragon heart meat for snaggletooth griphooka and ragnok, he had read a book that said goblins found the meat to be an incredibly rare delicacy so he thought they would enjoy it.

The two would later relax on the road side while eating some ice cream Harry was enjoying a Chocolate cone while Sirius enjoyed strawberry.

"So you already got us gifts ?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, i ordered it through owl post." Harry answered.

"So what did you get me ?" Sirius asked with a mischevious glint in his eye.

"A chew toy." Harry said evenly to a flabbergasted Sirius.

Sometimes he couldnt really tell if his godson was serious or not, "Your serious ?" he asked.

"No your Sirius." Harry shot back, to the stare of his godfather.

"That jokes only funny when i use it." he complained.

"No Sirius its never funny." Harry said simply.

"Yeah yeah come on its almost dark out time to go." Sirius said as the two left Diagon Alley via the floo network situated in the leaky cauldron.

...

Christmas morning was pretty much routine in the potter home, Harry would usually be the first up in the morning, where together with the elves he would make breakfast wiht the rest of the family. As before his mother would come in to help. The family would then have the meal together before opening presents. Harry simply loved Christmas, the ginger bread men the scent of pine cones in the air the outdoor smell coming from the tree, it simply energised him. One particular thing that Harry did love about Christmas though was that it was one of the few holidays where he was remembered, there were no huge parties on the day and no crowds swarming over his siblings. His parents had come to a decision that Christmas was meant to be spent with family, so the people who would show up on Christmas day were the blacks and Remus, this suited Harry perfectly. The tree was still stacked with presents for his two siblings though, but this time unlike thier birthday Harry actually had gifts that were meant for him, as he sent his gifts to his friends he had in turn recieved a package back from each of them.

Just then the roaring of flames from the fireplace sounded out and soon Sirius entered the dinning room with Emellia and Remus.

"Happy Christmas." Sirius said, looking just as excited as excited as Harry's siblings.

"There is a little child in him isnt there." Emillia joked.

"Unfortunately that child seems to have discovered the secret to immortal youth and wont grow up." Remus said with obvious dissapointment in his tone.

"Hey !" Sirius barked, as the potters simply laughed at the spectacal before them.

"Anyway why dont we go and open presents now, since were all here already." Lily barely finished before Charlie and Rose rushed to the Christmas tree followed closely by Sirius and and James. While the rest slowly walked into the living room and Chose seats around the tree.

Harry watched as the rest of the family opened their presents first, Harry watched as Charlie recieved another nimbus 2000, which Harry was very pleased at since he would probably be able to use it as his own.

Rose opened a present to find a first edition Tales of the Beetle and Bard, as she smiled manicly. Harry knew that Rose loved to read, just not at the extent that Harry did. Harry actually imagined an image of Rose showing Hermione the book as the other girl drooled in appreciation. Harry watched as his mother opened a gift containing a brown handbag that contained an expansion charm, before deciding to open up his own gifts. Before he could do so though he saw Sirius try to hide something in his pocket before he snatched it right out of his hands. As Harry looked at what his godfather was trying to hide, he Choked back his laughter.

"Who gave you a dog collar ?" Harry asked, as the others around the tree laughed in unison at the gift.

"Severus, he must still be pissed that i gave him grease in a hair gel bottle last Christmas." Sirius muttered.

"I told you not to do that." EmiLlia chided, James though was still smiling to himself which caused his wife to look at him curiously.

"What ?" she said.

"I just remembered how Severus came in last Christmas shouting BLAAAACK, it was hilarious." he laughed as Lily smacked him in the arm.

"What did you get him this time." Harry asked.

"Hair gel in a grease bottle." Sirius answered simply, as everyone just stared at him incredulously.

"Oh yeah im sure he wont be pissed about that." Harry commented before going back into his gift opening.

Unwrapping his gifts he found himself pretty pleased at the gifts he got. From his parents he recieved a book on magical creatures. From Remus he got a book on combatitive duelling which Remus said was a pretty interesting read. Aunt Em and Sirius gave him a custom made wand holster that would strap onto his fore arm. But unlike his other holsters this one in particular was special in that it would bond with the owner so that should the wand be blown out of the owners hand it would immediately return to the holster upon touching the ground. From Roger Harry recieved a book on flying techniques, after Harry told him once that he like flying. Harry chuckled slightly though when he opened Lisa's present to discover that she had gotten him a homework planner.

"who gives a homework planner as a Christmas present." he thought to himself, before continuing he gift opening.

Anastasia gave Harry a quill, simmilar to what the longbottoms got the five so many years ago. Tracy gave Harry an infinite notepad that would never run out of pages and Daphne gave Harry a magical eraser that could erase any form of marking on any material, be it parchment or paper. Cedric got him a book on quiditch over the ages and Cho got him a book about chinese, probably due to his interest in her mother tounge.

As Harry moved to bring his gifts back up the stairs, an owl flew in from the window carrying several packages. As it flew to him it dropped the packages on his feat. Noticing a note on the packages Harry opened it and was surprised to find that the letter was in gobbledegook.

_Dear Harry,_

_Griphook Snaggletooth and I were rather surprised when we got the gifts but nonetheless gratefull, in those packages are some books that we thought you would enjoy, they do hold some goblin secrets though so we hope you wont share them with anyone the books themselves have some magical protections all you have to do is to drop some of your blood on it._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Ragnok._

Harry smiled at the goblin sentiment as he sat down again to open the packages.

"Whose that from ?" Charlie asked.

"Some friends." Harry answered enigmatically, it must have been satisfactory though as Charlie went back into unwrapping his gifts.

Upon opening the first book Harry was stunned at the books he had recieved, all of which were written in gobbledegook. The first, was basically about goblin magic, the second was about security measures used by goblins and the third was about the goblin history. All of which since it was given by goblins and was thus authentic were probably worth more then some of the manors that some pure blooded families stayed in.

Harry was thus especially excited as he made his way back into his room to keep his gifts.

The next day Harry was reading his new book on goblin magics when Sirius came in through the door.

"You ready." he asked

"For ?"Harry asked in return.

"To go to Malfoy manor ! Were gonna be late." Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah yeah im ready, lets go." Harry said as he gripped Sirius's hand and the two apparated to Malfoy manner.

The first sight Harry was greeted by was a rather spectacular sight, the Malfoys although not as wealthy the potters had a just as resplendent manor. The drawing room, which Harry guessed he was a widely proprtioned room. The room in question was decorated srumptiously with dark purple walls. The drawing room has a handsome, ornate marble mantelpiece with a gilded mirror which has an intricately scrolled frame on top. The walls were decorated by a huge number of potraits while the room was lit brightly by a giant crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Harry looking up was immediately greeted by Draco and Roger who were standing in front of him.

"What took you so long ?" Roger asked

"I was reading a book." Harry answered.

"Reading a book, bunch of nutters." Roger muttered silently Lisa, Cho, Tracy, Ana and Daphne walked towards them.

Harry noticed Draco eating some chewing gum and smiled while looking at him, "I guess you like the gift ?"

"Liked it ? he tried to talk me into buying the company." a voice mentioned from behind, looking up Harry noticed Lucius walking over to him with all the other parents.

"I think my son gets enough sugar already Harry, all the sweets you gave him yesterday, he was up half the night." Narcissa Malfoy commented as the rest laughed out loud at Draco's obsession.

"You know all that sugar you intake is probably the reason for you pale complexion." Cho commented, as the laughter reached epic proportions.

Soon a house elf wearing a raggard cloth came in, "Dinner is ready master" he said

"thank you Dobby, why dont we head for the dinning room." Lucius said as the group made their way for a truly exquisite dinner, when Harry got back later that night he found no one noticed his absence for the day, but was too tired to care. The the new level in of his relationship with his friends and their families though was undeniably reached.

A few days later Harry and the other Hogwarts students found themselves back in the Hogwarts express. The whole school was soon full of excited students that had just returned from holiday, the holiday mood didnt fade in the slightest. Over the next few days though as the presence of end of year exams and homework began piling up again the students and teachers at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry soon returned to routine. Harry's routine was thus simmilar to the one before Christmas break. With one big difference Draco, Tracy, Daphne, Anastasia and Cedric were joining them almost every night at the library. The group had gotten incredibly close to each other and they even spent time at the lake just talking in the afternoon. So that was how the following months would occur with nothing that was particularly exciting. That is to say until one morning when the students came down for breakfast to notice that Griffindor house had just lost 250 points in one night.

It was later announced that the five and their 2 friends had been caught outside of their common rooms late at night and had been penalised for their discretion, the details were still sketchy though. Naturally the Griffindors, who were originally in the running to win the house cup, were not taking the loss of 250 points in one night very well. They used to be tied with Ravenclaw for the lead but were now dead last. But Harry knew they wouldnt stay angry for long after all it was the 5 Chosen ones they were talking about, from the looks of it the first years didnt even care that much

Roger came in and sat down at the Ravenclaw table in fRont of Lisa and Cho, who were at the moment looking at him with expectation practically plastered across their faces.

"Well ?" they asked in unison.

"Okay I asked Draco and it seems that Nott had something to do with the Griffindors loss of points, he caught your siblings outside and he reported them to Mcgonigall. He said they had a dragon with them though crazy loon." Roger explained, to Lisa and Cho's nodding.

Harry though was chuckling to himself.

"I know insane right ?" Roger said.

"Actually I think it may be possible that there was a dragon." Harry said, to the disbelieving looks of his three friends.

"Think about it who do we know that lives in this castle and not only could but would want a baby dragon." Harry asked

"Hagrid." the three of them said simply

"Then what were you laughing at ?" Lisa asked.

"Think about the entire situation again, of all the teachers Nott could have reported them to he Chose their head of house? Come on 7 students out after midnight, they would have probably lost 600 points if he had gone to Snape. Instead he went to Mcgonigall who was slightly more lenient and also wound himself in detention with a group of people who no doubt hate his guts now. I knew he was an idiot but I didnt think he was stupid." Harry said as understanding dawned on the other 3 Ravenclaws faces.

Harry continued, "Anyway lets go we have potions now dont we ?"

their potions lesson on the day was unique to say the least, professor snape finally decided to start doing more difficult potions and needless to say Roger's potion 'skills' led to an accident. The cauldron sizzled and bubbled erratically.

"Thats not suppossed to happen right ?" Roger asked, right before the cauldron exploded and sent a noxious smelling gas out that enveloped the entire potions classroom.

After professor snape exited got everyone to calmly evacuate from the premises, he rounded on Roger and Harry with murder in his eye.

"At least no one got hurt ?" Roger said optimistically.

Snape just stood there with a stare that clearly broadcasted what he wanted to fo to th two boys infront of him while breathing rather heavily, not a good sign all in all. "Detention Mr Davies, Mr Potter." he said with obvious tension in his voice.

"For how long ?" Roger asked, as Harry smacked his own forehead with his right hand.

"FOR THE NEXT WEEK !" Snape shouted hotly before storming off.

"Why, why would you ask for how long." Harry groaned at his friends idiocy.

" I couldnt help it ?" Roger said silently, as Lisa and Cho chuckled, as Harry groaned in misery.

Harry and Roger arrived at the designated area ready for their detention, that they were told would be served with his siblings and their friends as well as Nott.

As Harry and Roger walked up to the group of Griffindors and the lone Slytherin, they were greeted by eight curious expressions.

"what are you doing here ?" Charlie asked.

"Roger blew up a cauldron during potions and we got detention." Harry said simply, to the nodding heads of the Griffindors.

It was then that Mr Filch, the nasty care taker of the castle came walking towards them. Glaring at each of them as if they were nothing more then a speck of dirt on his boot.

"Come along then you lot, youll be joining Hagrid tonight, hell be going into the forbidden forest." he rasped.

"what !" Nott exclaimed.

"Im not going in there there are...werewolves in there." he whined as he heard a wolf howl at the moon.

"Oh there be more then that in the forest you better believe it." the caretaker said rather ominously.

All the sudents though paled slightly at the thought of going into the forest at night. All except Harry, who had wanted to go into that forest since he had got into Hogwarts, now was the perfect opportunity.

"Some time later the group found themselves in the forest, while they trudged through the undergrowth Weasley and Nott were being rather irritating by jumping at any noise they heard, be it real or imaginary.

"What are we doing in here Hagrid ?" Harry asked the giant grounds keeper.

"Theres been something in here lately, something not natural, its been hunting unicorns. Were here to find out what it is and put a stop to it." Hagrid answered

"Why attack unicorns they wouldnt hurt a fly ?" Roger asked.

"Well unicorn blood if given willingly has incredible magical properties that could range from boosting ones magic to bringing someone back when they were close to death, but thats only if you get it willingly. To take it by force, would keep ya alive but to kill something so pure curses the creature that takes it, curses it to a half life, so i have no idea whose doing that." Hagrid said. As something caught his attention on the ground. Kneeling he dipped his hand in a silvery liquid that seemed to act as a mirror.

"is that unicorn blood ?" Hermione asked.

"Yes and its fresh, well split up Hermione Ron and theodore will come with me. The five of you head up front and Harry and Roger go that way, here the two of you take fang." Hagrid said as Nott sputtered audibly.

"Why dont we get the dog ?" he whined

"Cause your with me, sides hes a bloody coward." Hagrid answered

"How comforting." Harry muttered before heading off with Roger and fang.

After another 20 minutes trudging through the forest, Harry felt a chill run down his spine from Rogers expression he realised that he wasnt alone. The forest which had sounds of insects and birds originally was now as silent as a grave. As the boys walked over a rather large tree trunk they saw it. In the darkness of the forest where most of the light from the moon was blocked out thanks in part to the trees growing over head, Harry and Roger spotted a cloacked figure crouched over the spasming body of a unicorn. Suddenly as if sensing their presence the creature looke up, Harry felt a feeling of dread build up within his body Roger scrambled to light the signal flare but as the creature jumped towards them he fell back in surprise and was knocked out cold by a rock lying on the forest floor.

Harry reacted on instinct, and in a moment his threstral wand was in his hands,

"_Bombarda_" he shouted as a huge explosion hit the creature dead on, tossing it back on the forest floor. Before it landed though the body floated upright and came for Harry once again.

Harry waved his wand and dozens of cutting curses came flying at the creature, it definately hit though as the creature spurted red blood.

"Red blood ?" Harry thought for a moment, before putting his attention back on the creature. Who was at the moment charging right at him.

It didnt get close though as a centaur burst forth from the bushes and knocked the creature away, who at the moment fled from the two.

Harry wasted no time and ran towards the still form of the unicorn infRont of him and immediately began healing the unicorn, the wounds healed but Harry felt the magic from the uniorn ebbing away.

"Dont you dare die on me." Harry growled as he began pouring as much magic as possible into his wand, if Harry was looking in a mirror he would have been shocked to see his eyes change into black and green, the unicorn though was suddenly enveloped in a white light before it stood up slowly till it stood over Harry. Who had sat down in exhaustion, Harry stood up and patted it on the head as it bowed it scratched itself on the neck causing blood to drip out from the new wound.

Harry looked at it curiously. "what do you want ?"

"Its offering its blood to you." the centaur said, Harry had forgot the centaur was there for a moment.

"Hi ?" Harry said with a little reservation.

"Call me Firzen, here." he said while tossing a small bottle at Harry, who caught it and began bottling some of the blood, after the bottle was full he healed the scratch and the unicorn went its merry way.

"Thanks for the help Firzen." Harry said

"You didnt really look like you needed it."

"still, thanks."

Harry walked over to Roger and woke him up just as Hagrid and his siblings burst forth from the bushes.

"What happened !? Are you ok lot okay, Firzen ?" Hagrid said in quick succession. As all those present in the clearing were focused on the centaur standing proudly none of them managed to notice Harry sneak the bottle of willingly given unicorn blood into his pocket.

"What happened ?" Charlie asked.

"We met the creature, he was attacking a unicorn and it attacked us Firzen came along and helped us get rid of it." Harry answered.

"What about the unicorn ?" asked Hagrid.

"It wasnt injured heavily so it went on its way." Firzen lied simply.

"Alright better get this lot back to the castle." Hagrid said, before nodding in Firzens direction, and walking back to Hogwarts.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Harry potter." Firzen said before walking, or was it trotting away from the clearing.

"Thanks! Harry shouted before following Hagrid back to the castle.

Instead of observing the forest like he did on the way here though, Harry's mind was at the moment in hyperdrive thinking about what had just occured. Right before it fled Harry had looked at the creature with his magical sight and found the creature possessed two very familiar cores, professor Quirells.

As Roger told the rest about what happened and what they saw, the pieces finally fell into place. "Unicorn blood keeps something thats close to death alive, but why would Quirell need it hes alive after all. Not to mention to not die in the first place and do something as horrible as killing a unicorn i know only one person would meet this criteria. Of course! that explains everything the reason he needed to attack unicorns for their blood, the reason he would risk so much to attempt the theft of the philosophers stone under Dumbledores nose and why he has two cores." Harry thought.

"Voldermort." Harry muttered to himself, as he walked behind the group that was enraptured by Rogers tale of what he saw before he got knocked out.

**And thats the end of chapter five. Hope you loved it as much as i enjoyed writing it, and if you didnt then... WHY THE **** NOT. (kidding kidding dont sue me or something lol)**

**ill try to upload the next chapter by next friday but come on even i have some semblance of a social life, no matter how miniscule it is, so bare with me if im late.**

**Peace out! **

**Chronic end.**


	6. Chapter 6

To break out of a shadow

**A/n : hey everybody im back and just as promised I give to you the 6th chapter. For those uninterested move on to the story and ignore the bold. For the rest of you lets talk about those comments of yours.**

**Emerald77- your points are relevant, but if allow me to explain the thought process behind it. In my version of the troll incident, harry with his amazing mind powers knows for a fact that Hermione is going to be attacked by the troll, and he is in a position of power to do something about it. I believe that those with the ability to act have a responsibility to do so. First of all could you stand by doing nothing when you could have stopped someone from being harmed ? Even if you don't know them so well that's cold man to just leave them to die like that. Whats more harry realizes that his siblings are going to face the troll as well how can he not get involved. Secondly as to the danger portion, yeah it is dangerous, but harry has a full grasp of his skills and as such knows that he can come out on top, which he did. As for the credit part, ill admit that portion was rather flimsy, but hey Harry's a Ravenclaw here isn't he, his curiosity just overcame the desire for credit. Whats more the knew the chance of him getting the credit is low so why stick around.**

**Sanbeegoldiewhitey- Harry's reasons for acting like he does in class has already been explained, secondly I said people start taking note of him in second year, not that he starts showing his skills of, third chapter 4-5 mentions his attitudes towards home work, that is in no way representative of his attitude towards exams which will be explained this chapter (im sure you have these people in your lives they suck at school work but rock during exams). my version of harry wants his parents attention but he does not let this desire define him, it in no way dominates the decision making process he has for his actions.**

**Guest (that talks about discontinuing)- sorry you feel that way.**

**Guest(that talks about storyline)- bear with me please, year two will be similar but year four will be the start of the real fun stuff and the Daphne and harry stuff as well (hope to reach there in 4 to 5 chapters**

**now that that's out of the way lets get on with the story (waves hands in the air)**

**I give to you a chapter with 7000+ words ! (bows at imaginary audience)**

Chapter sixth: the chosen one

"Now what do I do with this ?" Harry thought to himself while looking at the vial containing the silvery liquid, as he stroked Hedwig's feathers, to the birds appreciation.

A few days had passed since Harry's encounter with the creature and Harry was honestly stuck as far as the unicorn blood was concerned. Harry knew little about the effects of unicorn blood willingly given or otherwise, there were rumors of course like what Hagrid had mentioned. How it could grant the drinker a magical boost or immortality or something like that. Unfortunately all of that was rumor and Harry certainly wasn't willing to risk his health betting that they were true, which pretty much left him at the horns of a dilemma.

Harry was at the Owlery at the moment, after he decided to spend some time with his favorite snowy owl. The Owlery was a room on the top of Hogwarts castle's west tower, where owls belonging to the school and students alike rested, it was a circular stone room, rather cold and drafty due in part to the lack of any glass on the windows, which allowed the owls to come and go freely. The floor was completely covered in straw, owl droppings and the regurgitated skeletons of mice and moles. Owls rested on perches that went all the way up to the ceiling. The room obviously needed some cleaning up, but for the owls it was the perfect home.

As he thought though he heard the all too familiar sound of footsteps approaching and kept the bottle in his cloak. Looking at the entrance he noticed the entrance of several very familiar looking Griffindor.

"We have to tell Dumbledore, Snape and you know who are going to steal the stone today now that Dumbledore isn't here anymore, its their perfect chance. We have to tell him that he needs to come back right away." Hermione exclaimed.

"There's no way hell get back in time, we have to go and-" Charlie stopped as they entered the Owlery and he noticed Harry's presence.

"Go and what ?" Harry asked with a knowing smile.

"What are you doing here ?" Ron sneered.

"Its an Owlery, I have an owl ?" Harry said slowly, like he was speaking to a child. As Ron sputtered in indignation.

"Come on we can trust Harry." Rose pleaded, to her friends while Charlie nodded in agreement.

"Alright fine." Celia conceded.

"Okay listen Harry, you know the forbidden corridor right ?" Charlie began.

"Well, its guarded by a Cerberus and there's a trap door which leads to th-"

"Philosophers stone that you think professor Snape is trying to steal to give to Voldermort?" completed Harry with a smile, ignoring the flinch that was apparent on their faces when he mentioned the dreaded dark lords name.

"You know ?" Hermione asked, shock apparent on her face.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." Harry answered easily.

"But are you sure its Snape ?" Harry asked.

"Of course we are we stopped him from trying to kill Sean Charlie Rose Celia and Neville during the quidditch match." Ron shouted.

Harry gave the red haired youth a condescending look. "first of all, I believe it was Hermione who set his robes on fire." he said ignoring the brown haired girls squeak at the realization that she had been caught doing something against the school rules.

"How did you know I did it ?" she asked

"Unimportant, now where was I, oh yeah, if Snape was trying to kill the five of them wouldn't it be easier for someone with the qualification of potions master, to just poison them with some sort of potion ?"

"Why go through such a troublesome method." Harry asked, the response he got though was not very reassuring as the seven young Griffindors blushed, obviously due to embarrassment as they did not consider such a situation.

"It doesn't matter well just stop the one whose trying no matter who it is." Sean said confidently.

"So you believe that who ever is trying to steal the stone is one of our professors and is working with Voldermort a dark lord whose managed to fight Albus Dumbledore to a standstill, and your plan is to go at it with seven 1st years ?" Harry asked, honestly annoyed at their stupidity.

"Did you even try asking some teachers ?" Harry asked, at their downcast expressions Harry concluded that they did not and sighed in irritation.

"It cant be as bad as the troll." Neville defended, but his lack of confidence in the matter was obvious.

"need I remind you that you defeated that troll due to your accidental magic." Harry rebutted.

"And unless you want to rely on some unknown bought of magic to save you constantly, I suggest you think things through." Harry scolded.

Their behavior now was exactly what the fame of defeating Voldermort when they were one had done to them. They had been going under the assumption that they were invincible and Harry knew that this was incredibly self destructive behavior which would get them into trouble one of these days, trouble that could get them killed. He had hoped that his parents or Dumbledore would bring them to their senses but it was obviously never going to happen, Harry himself couldn't have chosen a better time to have this talk with them.

"Then why don't you come with us ?" Charlie asked.

"Why do you even want to go after the stone, its already protected,tell the teachers and be done with it." Harry answered.

"But Snape already knows how to get past fluffy." Celia complained,

"He could get the stone !" added Ron.

"Your not even sure whose trying to get the stone at the moment, and do you really think that a Cerberus is the only thing protecting the stone ?" Harry asked with obvious irritation in his tone.

Harry was at the moment tempted to tell them that it was Quirell after the stone, but he knew that telling them that was probably inviting them to go after the stone, there was no way they would fear the stuttering professor, not to mention it would lead to some uncomfortable questions about his abilities. Abilities which he was currently not willing to announce, no doubt Dumbledore would try to get him on the side of the light. Or worse transfer his magic to his siblings to give them a boost, something that Harry would never allow. Harry wasn't really sure what the old man would be willing to do all for his greater good, and he didn't want to find out.

"Now just send that owl to look for Dumbledore and tell the professors whats going on, and do not go after the stone, alright ?" Harry said, with a tone that made the discussion final.

Harry then watched as the seven first years sent off an owl before making their way back to their common rooms.

When Harry turned his attentions back to Hedwig though he was greeted with a stare that clearly said 'their going after the stone'.

"They are not, im sure they'll actually think things through." Harry said, although it was slightly unconvincing. Hedwig though just continued staring plainly at her master.

"Oh what do you know your just an owl !" Harry groused before petting her on the head one more time and making his back into the castle.

* * *

Harry was having a delightful sleep, it was one of the times he didn't have nightmares and he was currently flying through the air without a broom and he was loving every minute of it. Unfortunately his slumber was not to last as a pulse of magic swept through the castle, bringing him out of his slumber. While those in the school without magical sense, meaning everyone else, continued sleeping peacefully.

Refining his senses, Harry felt the traces of magic that indicated a duel was taking place, unsurprisingly though the traces of magic were originating from the third floor. Checking the marauders map, Harry saw eight names near the forbidden corridor, he groaned.

"Those idiots!"

Getting up Harry changed immediately and moved over to Rogers bed.

"Roger wake up !" Harry exclaimed while shaking the poor Ravenclaw awake.

"What !" Roger finally said

"Listen my siblings and their friends went into the forbidden corridor I need your help, go and tell the professors whats going on." Harry said slowly making sure that Roger heard and understood every single word.

"What about you ?" Roger asked

"I'm going to try and stop them from doing anything stupid." Harry said as he made a run for the third floor.

As he made his way in through that all too familiar door, this time though when he was greeted by the Cerberus, or fluffy as Hagrid called him, he was ready and didn't waste time before sending several stunners its way, it may have had spell resistance but not better then a trolls, soon it was lying on the floor unmoving. Harry then made his way into the trap door, lifting it up Harry jumped in, only to land on a pile of weeds. To Harry it soon became apparent though that these were far more then ordinary plants, weeds were ugly yes but they sure didn't strangle you.

"Devils snare huh?" Harry thought to himself as his took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Soon he was lowered down onto a stone floor, sitting down to catch his breath for a few minutes Harry considered the trap.

The person responsible was probably professor sprout, "Just how many professors were involved on this anyway ?" Harry thought as he got back up and made his way along the corridor.

Soon he found the corridor leading out into a large open room, it was for one thing huge and open. Harry noticed a door on the other side of the room and as he approached it he noticed that for one thing it was open, secondly it had over five dozen keys sticking out of the tough mahogany wood that made the door.

"I'm guessing that's professor Flitwicks doing." Harry mused as he began making a swift exit from the room.

Harry felt the increasing pulses of magic coming from up ahead and broke into a swift run along the corridor. The next time he found an exit it also opened up into a huge room, but this one was different from the last as a huge chess board was present on it. And from the looks of things a game had just finished.

Harry continued through the door and walked pass four dead trolls, there was no way they were defeated by the five they couldn't even take down one. And the troll they faced on Halloween was probably much smaller then the 4 lying dead at his feet. Harry began sprinting, if anything the four dead trolls indicated some serious power. He hadn't expected such power from the stuttering professor even if he was possessed by Voldermort.

Harry's sprint though was cut short when a burst of flame blocked his way, Harry screeched to a halt while staring at the pillar. It was soon cut short though as seven bottles and a piece of paper appeared in-front of him. Harry didn't bother reading it though, he waved his wand and cast a flame freezing spell before continuing his mad dash towards the source of the magical pulses he felt.

Harry stopped right at the edge to catch his breath and peeped in, to see Quirell embroiled in a battle with his siblings and the other chosen ones.

"_reducto !"_ Sean cried as Quirell dodged to the left, while the spell shattered the stares where he was previously standing.

"_pulsus."_ Quirell countered sending a spell towards Neville and Charlie who were on the other side of the chamber, catching the both of them by surprise. Charlie managed to jump to the side but Neville wasn't so lucky, being thrust back against the wall of the chamber, a loud crack resounded throughout the chamber as Neville slumped to the floor unconscious.

Celia and Rose lost their cool and attacked Quirell recklessly.

"_bombarda !"_

"_diffindo !"_ they simultaneously shouted.

"_absorpti protegius"_ Quirell countered, both spells disappeared into the shield. Celia and Rose, who had over extended themselves were shocked, surprise evident on their faces and in one bombarda was all it took to knock both of them out. With just two people left, it didn't take long for Quirell to finish them off. Harry was honestly impressed, the entire entire exchange had only taken 3 minutes but Quirell was able to defeat the five chosen ones fairly easily. As far as dueling was concerned the five were definitely skillful enough to defeat at least two aurors. Finally catching his breath, Harry made his way down the stairs, looking carefully as Quirell turned to face him.

"Good evening professor, a little late for a stroll isn't it ?" Harry asked, hoping to take away the possessed mans focus from his unconscious siblings.

"So the final potter shows himself at last." Quirell commented.

"No stutter ? I think it suited you better." Harry replied.

"A suitable disguise, after all who would have expected poor stuttering professor Quirell to try to steal the stone."

"A valid point I guess." Harry mentioned.

"Moving on though, are you sure you want to stay Quirell ? The other teachers are already on their way."

"I still have some time." Quirell growled menacingly.

"Really ? How does the master feel about that ?" Harry asked, Harry noticed Quirell flinch visibly and decided he had hit the nail on the head.

"Why don't you let me talk to the real person behind all of this." Harry challenged.

"You have no right t-." Quirell started but was interrupted by a cold raspy voice that made the hair near Harry's neck stand on end.

"I will speak to the boy." the voice from no where spoke.

"But master you are not strong enough." Quirell reasoned.

"I am strong enough for this." the voice answered with a sense finality in its tone. Quirell obliged and turned his back to face Harry, while unwinding his turban to unveil the face of Voldermort.

"So this is what the greatest dark lord in the world has been reduced to ?" Harry asked.

"It has not been an easy ten years Harry potter, but I will soon return to power." Voldermort answered strongly.

"Still, I am rather pleased that after all these years I finally meet you face to face, Harry potter." Voldermort said with what Harry believed to be the beginnings of a smile.

"Me ?" Harry said, dumbfounded.

"Yes Harry you, do you really think that these five, no matter how above average could defeat me ?" Voldermort said confidently.

"No Harry the only one who can claim responsibility for putting me in this state is you and you alone."

"What are you talking about ?" Harry said disbelief evident in his tone.

"Don't tell me you believe what that old codger believes Harry, I must admit though it has held much enjoyment for me to watch the so called greatest wizard in Britain make such a foolish mistake." Voldermort chuckled.

"So im the chosen one ?" Harry asked with confusion evident on his face.

"For all of Dumbledore's claims and announcements Harry, the only person who truly knows what happened that fateful Halloween night is me."

"And on that night the person I attacked was you." Voldermort rasped.

"And I must admit, you haven't disappointed me, I had suspected that you were the one to defeat the troll and not these children, and you proved me right during that brief encounter we had in the forest." he continued

"But there's no reason for you to want to meet me, if anything you should be trying to kill me. I am the one who will defeat you in the end wont I ?" Harry asked.

"Why should I bother fighting you when I can have you join me." the dark lord said with a smile.

"What ?"

"You may have strong shields Harry but your family does not. I have taken a look at your childhood Harry, we both are not that dissimilar, in that we have suffered greatly"

"What are you talking about ?" Harry demanded.

"Your parents have never cared for you as much as they do your siblings, you know this is true. Sure it started with the small things like taking sides in arguments, but now they barely register your presence at all. Tell me Harry do you think its natural for a child to have to fight for his parents affections ?" Voldermort asked.

"That's not true, they care for me." Harry answered but he wasn't as confident as he liked to be.

"They do not deserve your loyalty Harry, they treat you like your not even there, I have seen it Harry you cannot deny it! They care for you only when it is convenient for them and forget you the rest of the time, you'll see Harry their love and concern for you will always be second place to that of your siblings. Join me Harry and you will have the power to make them take notice of you. Tell me what do you see in that mirror Harry, it is the mirror of Erisid and it holds your deepest desires." Voldermort asked.

Harry looked at the mirror and what he saw completely baffled him, at one time he saw his family but as opposed to other family pictures Harry was in the center and both of his parents were looking at him with affection clear in their eyes.

"Join me Harry and we could make make that dream a reality." Voldermort declared.

Harry was having a desperate struggle in his conscience, he was currently having a hard time in refusing Voldermort's offer, it was incredibly tempting as the offer was completely possible. And yet a part of Harry refused to accept it. The great conflict must have been showing on his face though as Voldermort continued to push his offer.

"Think of what I could teach you Harry, there's no way Dumbledore would teach anything to you, not with his chosen ones occupying his mind. Your still young Harry, you have yet to uncover what your truly capable of, imagine what you could accomplish if I helped you." Voldermort offered.

After a long inner debate Harry remembered, Harry understood the validity of the mans words but at the same time remembered how despite the sweet promises the man in-front of him was a dark lord and had done things that would never be forgiven, Harry remembered in its entirety how much suffering he had caused and couldn't in good conscience accept his offer.

"I thank you for that offer, but unfortunately I do not appreciate your methods, so working with you will be impossible im afraid." Harry finally gave his reply.

"Very well then, ATTACK!" Voldermort screamed as Quirell jumped into action. Pointing his wand at Harry.

Harry was much faster though and in the blink of an eye sent several stunners Quirells's way knocking the man to the floor. Harry was in for a surprise though as the professor got himself back on his feet. Harry stared stupidly at his ex defense against the dark arts teacher.

"The wonderful thing about unicorn blood is that it gives such wonderful properties, don't you think so Harry?" Voldermort sneered.

"Along with living a cursed life don't forget about that." Harry commented in return.

"_defluo"_ Harry shouted. Quirell managed to dodge the spell just in time to see Harry's spell hit a lamp on the other side of the room, causing it to disappear.

Quirell, countered strongly, sending several reducto's and three silent spells at Harry. Harry wasn't fazed in the slightest though as he conjured a shield to protect him.

"_aegis protegius."_ Harry shouted as the spells struck the shield with much force but was unable to penetrate it.

"_mavri ecrixi"_ Harry counted as an explosion rocked the room, knocking Quirell off his feet. Harry jumped on the chance and sent another spell at Quirell.

"_reducto."_ he cried, watching as Quirell was struck by the spell and knocked to the ground. He would not stay down for long and got up once again.

"you know if you keep this up you'll destroy your body." Harry commented, gaining a snarl in response from Quirell.

"it doesn't matter! all for my master." he shouted before sending several cutting curses in Harry's direction.

Harry summoned a shield in an instant, he realized though that some of those curses were not heading towards him but to Rose, who was on the floor a few meters away from him. Harry reacted instinctively and summoned a shield to protect Rose. This action though gave Quirell an opening, Quirell deciding to take it sent a reducto that hit Harry straight on. As Harry was knocked of the ground he landed in a heap on the stairs, immediately he felt Quirell's body on him and Quirell's hand around his throat.

"You are powerful child, more so then some of my inner circle. But you still lack experience and dueling sense, now do you surrender ?" Voldermort said mockingly.

"Never !" Harry spat.

"fine, crush his thro-" Voldermort was about to order, he didn't get to finish though as Harry's eyes flashed a luminescent green and Quirell found himself being thrown across the room.

Harry scrambled to his feet, managing to get up faster then Quirell, Harry thought it was time to get serious against Voldermort's container. Taking a spell found in the potter family journal's invented by his great great grandfather Harry pointed his wand at Quirell at practically funneled magic into his Threstral wand.

"_fulgeo luximor."_ Harry bellowed, as a bright blue beam of light emitted from his wand and slammed directly into Quirell, causing him to crash painfully against the wall, with such force that cracks appeared on the wall.

Harry was breathing heavily, such spells after all were incredibly magic oriented and demanded a huge pool of magic. Not only that but Harry felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"That reducto earlier might have fractured a rib." Harry thought.

Harry looked up as he saw Quirell getting up, this time though the defense against the dark arts professor was clearly using a lot of effort. Harry was honestly not surprised, the spell he used practically turned any magic used by the wizard into pure attacking force there was no way Quirell would be able to get away unharmed. From what he saw, Harry guessed that Quirell was starting to feel the impact of his previous spells as well. Harry though was feeling exhausted, due in part to him using too much magic over the past week, while not giving himself enough time to recuperate. Harry's core may have been big, but it was still underdeveloped, after the battle with Voldermort in the forest he had used up almost all of his magic to save that unicorn, the magic used had unfortunately not returned yet.

Both of the fatigued combatants looked at each other closely, Harry felt like he was going to collapse at any minute, but pure stubbornness was keeping him up at the moment.

The intense atmosphere was ruined though when a raspy chuckle reverberated across the room,

"Yes! its such will that makes me want you on my side so badly. Join me Harry, such power is wasted on the light side."

"If I didn't say yes the four times you asked me previously before we fought, what makes you think ill say yes after we fight ?" Harry asked.

"Do you really think that your parents will take notice of you now, no matter what you do, I highly doubt so." Voldermort remarked, just as the chamber door was blasted open and professors McGonagall and Flitwick entered the room, shock evident that a professor of Hogwarts was actually trying to steal the stone.

Harry chose that exact moment to faint into the embrace of darkness, before he lost all awareness though he heard the soft whisper of Voldermort.

"You'll see Harry, your parents may care but they will never treat you in the same manner they treat your siblings, in their eyes you'll always be second place." before he turned into black smoke and escaped from the room.

* * *

When Harry finally roused from his exhausted slumber he was greeted with the familiar sight of the hospital wings white ceilings. As Harry sat up though he spotted his siblings and their friends, who were all lying in their own beds as well. The five were currently eating candy and chatting with Hermione and Ron who were sitting on chairs close to the beds.

"Harry your awake !" Rose cried out in glee.

"Yes and the seven of you promised me that you wouldn't go after the stone !" Harry scolded, as he felt the beginnings of a headache pounding against his frontal lobe.

At least the seven Griffindors had the decency to blush in embarrassment, it didn't last long though as the seven of them gave him a look themselves.

"But you went down as well !" Ron exclaimed.

"Only because you idiots went in, and at least I was smart enough to convince the teachers to go in as well." Harry sneered back, silencing the red head.

"How did you know that we went after the stone ?" Hermione asked.

"You have your secrets and I have mine." Harry answered mysteriously.

"At least we had some training in taking on dark wizards, unlike you." Sean sneered in a manner that reminded Harry of nott.

"Is that so ?" Harry asked snidely

"If you were so well trained then why is it that Quirell managed to wipe the floor with all of you." Harry asked. Neither Sean nor any of the Griffindors had anything to say to that and wisely kept their mouths shut.

"What happened in the room after we got knocked out anyway ?" Charlie asked.

"After I saw the five of you get knocked out, I came in and distracted Quirell for a moment, you know asked him what he wanted and all that rubbish." Harry some how had a feeling that he should not mention how Voldermort tried to recruit him or that he mentioned that Harry was the true chosen one.

With bigots like Weasley in the room Harry would probably be accused of being a death eater before anyone could say dark. As for the bit about being the chosen one, it was simply too late to bring up that fact, everyone was already dead set in their beliefs and if Harry tried to tell them the truth he would probably be accused of being jealous or thrown into a rubber room before he could show them the memory.

"Then we dueled for a moment before the professors came in." Harry said simply.

At that moment the doors opened and their esteemed headmaster entered the room, followed swiftly by the parents of all those children in the hospital wing. Harry watched as his parents made their way to their children James and Lily immediately began to fawn over his siblings.

"Oh my poor babies are you okay ? Who would have thought that Quirell was a dark wizard." Lily continued while going over every single wound on Rose and Charlies body.

"Were fine, thank god Harry called the professors." Charlie laughed as his parents turned in his direction.

"Good job." James said as he patted Harry's shoulder.

"Are you okay sweety." Lily asked as she hugged her eldest son who nodded slightly, Harry would have been lying if he said that he wasn't enjoying the attention, it was rare that he got a hug form either of his parents.

Soon though their attentions were diverted back to his siblings, neither of his parents fawned over his injuries,which were actually worse then his siblings. There was no kissing of his forehead to, as Lily called it, make the pain go away or checking him over, there was only that previous reaction.

Harry was seriously conflicted on the inside, was this it, was this all the recognition he got despite facing a dark lord and saving his siblings. Harry had always craved their attention and he had it just a moment ago, the problem was that it was not what he had expected, putting aside that his parents went to tend to his siblings first. Harry had seen their reactions towards his siblings and that was what he craved. The reaction his parents gave him, although not intentional, was not the same way they reacted to Charlie and Rose.

It was at that exact moment where Harry fully understood Voldermort's words.

'You will always be second place in their hearts'.

It was this particular sentence that Harry felt fully at the moment. Watching as his parents and their friends begin asking Dumbledore about the entire situation. Harry had no way of proving this theory but he couldn't help but feel that no matter where he was at the moment, Voldermort was definitely laughing at him, Harry could almost hear the laughter himself and found that he wanted to join in as well.

Anyone watching Harry closely during the entire occurrence would have guessed that if the eldest potter chose at that moment to stare into the mirror of Erisid he would be looking at something completely different.

* * *

As Harry rested in the hospital wing, Dumbledore made his way to his office followed swiftly by several concerned parents.

"How did you know who get into Hogwarts ?" Alice nearly screeched, while the other parents looked at their former headmaster expectantly.

Dumbledore made a placating gesture, "calm down my dear, I had no idea Quirenius had been possessed by tom."

His explanation was interrupted though as Sirius and Remus entered the room, nodding their apologies for the disturbance.

"The wards of Hogwarts though would have alerted me if he tried to harm any students, your children were in no trouble." Dumbledore continued his explanation, as several of the parents nodded in acceptance.

Sirius and Remus though were not convinced.

"But shouldn't you have known immediately ? When he went after the stone." Sirius asked.

"Yes which is why I was already on my way back and sent word to Minerva and Filius to heed Mr Davies warnings." Dumbledore said easily.

Dumbledore instantly continued, whether he was rushing or trying to stave of anymore unwanted questions Sirius and Remus were honestly uncertain.

"This brings to light more impending issues though." Dumbledore said bleakly.

"What are you talking about ?" David Micheal's asked curiously.

"This is the first sign of action we've seen from Voldemort in over 10 years, previously most of the population of Britain and his allies have thought the same. The last I heard from mad eye, Voldemort was last spotted in Albania. It is obvious that that is no longer the case." Dumbledore continued.

"What does that have to do with anything ?" Frank fumed.

"With his attempt to steal the philosophers stone, the daily prophet will definitely be writing a story about it, a story which they may even be compiling as we speak. Which means that all of Voldermort's past allies and death eaters will be starting to move again." Dumbledore said bleakly, to the paling faces of the adults in front of him.

"So what do we do ?" Lily asked worriedly.

"Obviously the five will have to have their training accelerated. I was planning to maintain their training at the same pace, but their battle with Quirell has made it clear that their training needs to be pushed forward. I will start training them more combative spells, as compared to how I previously taught them by the syllabus." Dumbledore began, with his all important plans.

"Apart from their physical protection, Tom's return has brought forth some more serious problems." he continued.

"How so ?" Sarah asked, with interest.

"Despite our efforts over the years, there have been a numerous number of death eaters that have managed to go free. Now that signs of their dark lord have returned they will no doubt try to do something to curry his favor once again. Unfortunately these death eaters come from old families and they have quite some level of political pull in the wizarding world. Basically they occupy up to 40 percent of the Wizemgot."

"Your afraid that they will use such political power against the five ?" Remus asked.

"The political ways of the wizarding world are incredibly old and have unfortunately not changed yet, should the dark families try spark an attack on your children they could do so with ease."

"So what do you suggest we do ?" James said.

"Based on the whole political situation, the heirs of families have always been afforded a greater level of protection, certain laws in fact protect the heirs from a variety of things." Dumbledore tried to explain before being swiftly interrupted.

"How so ?" Sirius, who had never really cared about the pure blood political scene asked.

"Any attack on the heir of a family be it political or other wise is subjected to harsh punishment should the grounds for such an attack be unjustified, so if any of our enemies attempt to even slander your children then, we could legally ask for their punishment, which would be incredibly harsh." Dumbledore explained, seeing as no one interrupted he continued.

"This means that Neville is probably the safest as he is heir to he longbottom family, Celia and Sean though will have to be claimed as dual heir apparent." Dumbledore said.

"You mean claim the both of them as heirs ? Is that even possible ?" asked David.

"About 100 years ago the noble families were suffering from certain problems."

"What kind of problems ?" James asked.

"Well it seemed that siblings were killing each other for the rights to be named heir. So this law was passed where both of them would have a chance to become heir and this choice would be made by the current lord of the house. Putting both of them under this law would give both of them heir status and the protection it entails." Dumbledore explained, noticing the nodding looks of the Michael's he knew they were convinced.

"The next part is going to be more difficult." Dumbledore thought to himself.

"The problem though lies with Charlie and Rose." Dumbledore mentioned.

"Why couldn't we simply do the same thing as Celia and Sean ?" Lily asked.

"Because the law was put in place to only affect the two eldest siblings as it would usually be these two that have a dispute over the heir-ship, so in this case it could only effect Harry and Charlie." Dumbledore explained.

"So what can we do ?" James asked worriedly.

"In order to get both of them under the rule, well need to emancipate Harr-."

"You mean kick him out of the potter family ?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"That would be the only way to pass over his rights to Charlie and Rose, unfortunately."

"He will still be able to stay with the family it will only be emancipation on paper." Dumbledore answered.

"But your taking away his rights as heir !" Sirius exclaimed, obviously outraged.

"Its the only way to afford Charlie and Rose the protection they need." Dumbledore explained patiently.

"But from what you said that could leave Harry as a target." Remus asked.

"It is unlikely that Voldemort or his allies would target Harry." Dumbledore said, once again doing a placating gesture.

Sirius was stunned, looking at James expecting him to refuse, to his disappointment though James looked like he was ready to accept the idea.

"You agree with him ?" Sirius asked amazed.

"Albus is correct, Charlie and Rose need that protection more then Harry would, this is the only way." James argued.

"But when can we do this ?" Lily asked.

"The changing of heirs needs 2 other families and witnesses, the best time to tell the children and do the change would be in the upcoming summer holidays." Dumbledore said, having no idea of the results this action would have on the growing rift between the potters and their eldest son.

* * *

The following week Harry spent in the hospital wing was probably a lesson in boredom, his siblings were discharged early but Harry who was injured more seriously was forced to stay in the hospital wing for observation. Thankfully his friends visited him almost every day so his boredom was mostly alleviated.

After his discharge, the exams were soon around the corner and everyone's minds were set on preparation, even Roger's. Unlike his daily work Harry took the exams far more seriously, as they actively contributed to his record which would be essential in any future job prospects, not to mention he wasn't allowed to bring or do anything else in the exam hall so he had nothing else he could do other then put effort into the exam. the final exams, were to Harry for a lack of a better word easy, the practical portion more so. The potions practical though was far more eventful then the other examinations. Without Harry working with him , Roger caused an accident in less then 20 minutes, melting his cauldron and being chased out of the exam.

When the exams were finally over the mood in the castle soon began to lift as everyone was looking forward to the upcoming holidays. Soon the end of school feast approached with Ravenclaw in the lead for the house cup. The great hall, which was packed with excited students was decorated in Ravenclaw colors, the Ravenclaws were obviously in a celebratory mood.

"Congratulations to you all for completing another year at Hogwarts, now I believe the house cup deserves some awarding. In fourth place with 430 points Griffindor house, in third place with 505 points Hufflepuff house, in second place with 630 points Slytherin house and in first place with 720 points Ravenclaw house." the head master announced, from his usual podium. As the Ravenclaws cheered at their victory.

"Yes congratulations Ravenclaw, however, there are some extra points that I believe need to be awarded." Dumbledore went on. The Ravenclaws had stopped cheering when the head master had said however were now eying the headmaster with clear suspicion in their eyes.

And so it went on with Dumbledore awarding points to the seven Griffindors for their actions in stopping the theft of the philosophers stone, awarding Griffindor house a total of 300 points putting them in first place. At this point most of the students in Ravenclaw house were outraged, especially since it was common knowledge that two of their students were involved in the events that occurred that very night. The Ravenclaws head of house was obviously upset at the stolen victory but was silent in the matter.

"So I believe the winner of the house cup is Griffindor house !" the aged headmaster announced to the raucous cheers of the Griffindors the rest of the hall clapped in congratulations but it was obvious to all that the headmaster was playing favorites. Soon the feast ended and the students made their way back to their common rooms.

The next day found the students of Hogwarts back on that all too familiar scarlet engine as they awaited their arrival at kings cross station.

"So what plans do you have for the holidays ?" asked Roger, while he opened up a chocolate frog.

"We should definitely meet up at diagon alley."offered Tracy.

"Oh, we could do our supply shopping together." Lisa said happily.

"We'll only get our list at the end of the holidays." Roger said

"We could always meet up more then once ? We could just roam the alley we don't really need to go there to buy anything." Cedric offered.

"I need to practice quidditch though, we can start trying out for the team next year !" Roger exclaimed excitedly.

"What are the chances that you can even get into the team ?" Draco asked condescendingly.

"Almost the whole team will be changing next year many of the players are fifth and seventh years, they'll definitely stop due to Owl's and Newt's." Roger reasoned.

"We could get together and play." Cedric offered, probably excited that he could join up the next year, an offer which Cho readily jumped on.

"But whose house do we meet up in, it has to have a pitch right ?" Anastasia asked.

"We could do it at Malfoy manner ?" Draco offered, he himself looking excited at the prospect.

"Hah I knew it, quidditch can even get through to the Slytherin's." Roger laughed as Draco punched him in the arm.

"Idiot." Draco muttered as the rest of the group laughed with mirth.

Harry was honestly looking forward to sleeping in his own bed, the Hogwarts beds was comfortable of that he was certain. But nothing would be able to beat the exact comfort of a bed he had been using since he was 3. the train ride passed by slowly but soon the group found themselves at kings cross station, with plans to meet for the upcoming weeks ahead.

**And that's the end of the chapter ! (throws confetti in the air)**

**thanks for reading and ill probably be updating next Friday if its late by one or two days... there's nothing I can do about it.**

**Chronic End**


	7. Chapter 7 : holidays

To break out of shadow

**A/N: im back bringing you the 7th chapter in my little story,**

**And as for you awesome reviewers...OMG 20 reviews...you guys sure know how to put on the pressure lol. If i fail to meet your expectations though... well then im sorry but there's nothing i can do (bows head in apology).**

**Not much to talk about here today so on with the story. (laughing manically)**

**Disclaimer: if i owned Harry Potter... well i don't so whats the point of dreaming.**

Chapter 7

Harry sat in the Potter family library reading a journal written by a certain Tobias Potter, his great great uncle to be precise. He had spent the first few days of the summer holidays in the family library, having missed it sorely. The Hogwarts library was nice sure, but it just couldn't compare with the Potter family library.

The Potter family library was a huge square room which was decorated with paintings from several time periods, the walls were painted a dark red that was close to brown and had drapes of a similar color hanging from the windows. The room itself was absolutely loaded with books, with shelves lining all four walls and occupying most of the room. In the center of the room was a large velvet carpet with large leather chairs in perfect condition. The shelves even extended to the ceiling forming a second floor but still leaving the ceiling visible. The room was then brightly illuminated with several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Harry considered the library as his own personal space, apart from the house elves that would come in to cleanup once in awhile, Harry was the only one who came into the library. Charlie and his father weren't exactly the book reading type, and while Rose enjoyed reading she wasn't too keen on libraries, his mother would probably have loved to be here but spent so much time taking care of things around the house that she didn't have the time to come into the library anyway.

Harry had reflected upon Voldermort's comments about his dueling and found those words held some truth in them. So apart from his usual time spent reading books Harry began engaging in real practices. His siblings and Dumbledore were kind enough to leave the practice dummies they used in the house, which Harry was more than happy to use for his own practice. The practice dummies were an interesting form of magic as they could be set to cast spells and were able to work together like a team, Harry had now begun using them to practice and gain more experience. Harry had even begun watching the dueling circuit more often as well.

Speaking of the five chosen ones and their aged mentor, Harry had decided to continue his habit of eavesdropping on the six of them during their lessons. He was actually glad to have done so as the headmaster had begun teaching them far more useful spells, some of which Harry didn't know, it didn't matter to Harry much though, no matter the spell he was able to master them fairly easily. On one hand Harry was incredibly pleased at the progress he was making, on the other he was still excited about the upcoming week where he would be meeting his friends in Diagon alley, he felt that he probably should pay a visit to his favorite goblins as well. Unfortunately for Harry he had no idea of what his parents and his aged headmaster were currently planning.

Harry a book in his hand was making his way to down to the dining room for lunch, as he made his way down though he realized that the Michaels and Longbottom's were visiting at the moment, noticing his siblings chatting with Sean Celia and Neville.

"Maybe I'm spending too much time in the library." Harry thought to himself, as he made his way into the dining room.

He found the adults already seated though along with the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, Harry had an sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw the decrepit old man in front of him.

"Harry could you call Charlie and Rose over please?" Lily asked, to which Harry nodded.

Sticking his head into the living room Harry called over to his siblings.

"Mum wants us in the dining room." He called.

"Coming." His siblings answered as they got up and followed him into the dining room.

"Sit sit." Dumbledore said with that damned grandfatherly smile.

"What's up professor?" Charlie asked.

"Is it time for our lessons?" Neville asked.

"Not now my boy we have something else to discuss today I'm afraid." He answered, as the sickening feeling Harry felt worsened considerably.

"Discuss what?" Sean asked.

"As you know Voldermort's reappearance in the last school term signals the first sighting of him over the past ten years, now that he's back his allies will start moving once again and that implies that they will target you." Dumbledore explained while pointing at the 5 children in front of him.

"This is why I have begun teaching you more combative magic, apart from that though some of your enemies will be attacking you politically as well. This is why we need to get all of you under some form of political protection, which in this case involves putting all of you under the terms of heir-ship. Thus we will be invoking an old law to get Sean and Celia as well as Charlie and Rose under the heir ships of the Michael and Potter families." Dumbledore explained. As the children except for Harry nodded.

Harry sensed the conversation was probably going to be incredibly 'five' centric, raising an eyebrow he decided to speak up. "How does this concern me?" Harry asked out loud as the looks of all the adults and children in the room turned towards to him.

"Well there is a slight complication when it concerns the three of you."Dumbledore explained while flashing his most grandfatherly smile.

"Well the law involved only affects the two eldest siblings and that's Charlie and Harry." Lily mumbled.

"So the only way for Rose and Charlie to both be counted under the heir ship would be to..."James continued, but paused halfway through.

"To what?" Harry asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Pass you over for the heir ship Harry." James said, not daring to look his son and soon to be ex heir in the eye.

"What!" Harry exclaimed.

"It's basically like they are emancipating you my boy." Dumbledore said trying to calm the situation as everyone in the room watched the eldest Potter's reaction.

"So basically your kicking me out of the family ?" Harry asked, his aggression evident in the tone of his voice.

"It's the only way, otherwise Rose and Charlie could be targeted by some dark families like the Notts." Lily exclaimed, trying to justify their horrible decisions.

"And I'm not worth protecting is that it!" Harry actually shouted.

"No! Its just that Charlie and Rose are more likely to be targeted." Lily tried to explain, to Harry though he simply heard excuses.

Once again Harry heard the taunts and temptations of Voldemort, while his parents may have been thinking that their actions were justified, in essence they were choosing to protect their precious chosen ones over him and Harry couldn't accept it. Voldermort may have been a liar and a killer but the words he had spoken to Harry down in that room was unfortunately correct. Harry was honestly grateful for meeting the dark lord. Just like how an addict would need an intervention to come to his senses, Harry needed someone to point out the futility of his obsession over his parents attention, in Harry's case that person was an evil overlord hell bent on getting Harry to join him. Harry stared silently at his parents who were at the moment trying to come up with any excuse to justify their betrayal of Harry. Harry though was far too disappointed at the moment to focus on anything excuses they might have been slinging. He had honestly started having doubts about their so called concern for him over the years, which only increased significantly after that episode in the hospital wing, but never in his wildest dreams did he expect that Voldermort's words would be the truth, that they would actually choose his siblings over him.

With a sigh Harry stood up and made his way out of the dining room all thoughts of lunch gone from his mind.

"Harry! Where are you going." Lily cried.

"To my room." Harry answered rather mechanically.

"bu-"James started, but didn't get to finish as Harry rounded on him a cold glint in his eye.

"Don't even start! It's obvious that you have already made your decision and that i have no say in the matter, so just tell me what I have to do." Harry asked coldly.

"Calm down Harry, your parents are just trying to protect your family is all." Albus explained trying to calm the already rapidly deteriorating situation.

Harry eyed the head master with suspicion in his eye, "is that so? This was completely my parents idea huh?" Harry asked sceptically.

"Stop the chatter and just tell me what i had to do." Harry practically growled.

Dumbledore sighed, "alright we will have to go to Gringotts to get all these matters settled as the goblins will need to do a blood test first followed by a signing of contracts to establish both the heirs and to emancipate Harry."

Trying to divert the attention from the tense atmosphere Darren asked, "why not go to the ministry?"

"the goblins have always handled such matters, seeing as they control the vaults, also well need to invite two noble families to watch the occurrences as is tradition." Dumbledore mentioned.

"I'm meeting Draco, and some friends in diagon alley in the upcoming week, let's just get this over with then." Harry said with a sense finality in his tone before leaving the room.

* * *

The following days in Potter manor were for the lack of a better description completely awkward; his parents were consistently trying to earn his forgiveness. Harry though was far too upset to care about how guilty they felt at the moment. Even more so then when they had forgotten about him on his past seven birthdays. Harry had spent all of his time in the Potter library or in his room not speaking to his parents or his siblings.

That is until his siblings had barged their way into his room one day followed swiftly by the other five chosen ones as well as Hermione and Ron.

Harry had been reclining in a relaxed fashion on his bed while reading dueling strategies by Byron stringer, when he looked at the seven Griffindors for a second before turning his attention back to his book.

"Harry! Please come out and talk to mum and dad, their completely miserable i haven't even seen them smile in the past three days." Rose pleaded.

"I'm sure it will pass." Harry said without a care in the world, Harry might have held pity but he had no doubt that they would probably be back to their old selves once they forgot about him...again.

"How can you treat your parents like that !" Hermione exclaimed, Harry didn't even bother answering her as he continued reading his book.

Sean snarled and walked menacingly towards Harry before pulling the book out of Harry's hand.

"Stop being such a baby and just go talk to your parents." He growled.

"Your not really familiar with the concept of convincing are you? Oh and by the way i was just wondering but, how does this involve you ?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"When your parents decide to disown you, you can come and tell me how to act okay." Harry smiled condescendingly before pointing towards the door.

"Now get out." Harry answered simply, thankfully the seven Griffindors actually listened, although he felt like hexing all seven of them, he was seriously trying to control the impulse.

The only other visitors Harry had had was Sirius and Remus who had come in the day before he was set to go to the bank, Harry was honestly just numb to his family now he still held some measure of anger towards his family but he was for the most part at an impasse he just couldn't force himself to care anymore.

Noticing Sirius and Remus enter the room Harry perked up slightly,

"Did they ask you to come in?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but that's not why we're here." Remus answered truthfully.

"Then why are you here?" Harry asked.

"To check on you." Sirius answered simply.

"I'm fine." Harry answered exasperatedly.

"Really?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, by the way where's aunt Em?" Harry asked.

"She's at home, she hasn't been feeling well." Sirius answered.

"She sends her love though." Sirius laughed, as he kissed his godson on the forehead, while said godson cringed in disgust.

* * *

The next day Harry awoke in a rather terrible mood, after he made his way through his normal morning routine he decided to make his way down the stairs into the dining room. He sat down at the table and was greeted by his siblings and parents who were awake much earlier than usual today.

"Morning Harry." His mother greeted happily.

Harry didn't even bother responding though and instead chose to nod his head without much enthusiasm. Such a look didn't escape his parents who flashed a look of guilt before trying to hide it with a smile, a sadistic part of Harry was thoroughly enjoying watching their guilt.

Soon though their appointments with Gringotts was fast approaching and the Potters left the dining table, with Harry following his parents through the floo network.

Shouts of 'Diagon alley' were repeatedly heard in Potter manor followed by several bursts of green fire, as the Potter family made their way to diagon alley.

Exiting the fireplace at the leaky cauldron Harry soon noticed the Michaels, Longbottom's and the Connors. To Harry's surprise Harry noticed the Malfoy's also present who were at the moment talking to Sirius and Emilia. Also present was the old headmaster of Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry.

Making his way over to Draco, who seemed to be listening intently, Harry smiled curiously at his friend.

"what are you doing here ?" he asked his friend.

"to perform such a transfer of heir ship requires it to be witnessed by other families, James and lily asked us to witness." Narcissa explained, although it was obvious that she didn't really agree with the decisions made by the Potters.

Seeing that everyone was finally present the group made their way to that tall white stone building that was Gringots bank. Walking past the gate that was as usual guarded by several armed goblin warriors, the group was greeted by quite a sight as the place was practically swarming with patrons with all the counters being subjected to huge queues.

As his family and their friends started queuing Harry wasn't really in the mood to stand in line with the five chosen ones, even if Draco was with him. So remembering the words of snaggletooth Harry made his way to a counter that said closed and yet had a goblin present.

Draco who had seen his friend walk out of the queue grew curious, "where are you going ?" he asked, drawing the groups attention to the black haired youth.

"I don't plan to stay in a queue for the next few hours, do you ?" Harry countered, as he made his way to the counter.

"But Harry you cant ju-" lily started but her son ignored her and continued on his way to the counter, as he faced the counter, the goblin snarled slightly at him.

"I don't care who you are this counter is closed, now just get in line." The goblin snarled.

"Forgive me, im Harry Potter i was wondering if you could alert Griphook and Snaggletooth of my presence." Harry introduced in gobbledegook.

"My apologies Mr Potter, i shall get Griphook and Snaggletooth for you, please wait a minute." The goblin replied, with a complete change in attitude, even going so far as to flash Harry a thin smile.

Harry waited for a moment, before snaggletooth and Griphook walked up to him, " Harry its a pleasure to see you again." Griphook said.

"The pleasures all mine, unfortunately Griphook this isn't a social call," Harry said while tilting his head in the direction of the five chosen ones.

"Ah yes, we did receive those letters from that decrepit old wizard." Snaggletooth growled.

Harry didn't even need to guess who they were talking about, "nice to see they don't like him as well." Harry thought happily.

"The director will probably be joining us." Griphook commented.

"Now then Harry shall we adjourn to a private room." Snaggletooth asked as Harry indicated for the rest to follow him, all of whom were giving Harry a truly shocked expression.

The group soon found their way into a room that was decorated similarly to the 2 rooms that Harry had been in previously, albeit larger. The group sat down near on the chairs present, making themselves comfortable.

"Would you like a drink Harry?" Griphook asked.

"What do you have?" Harry returned with a question.

"We have some fire whiskey if you'd like." The goblin offered, with a sly smile.

"You know I'm underage Griphook." Harry rejected, returning the smile.

"So tea then?"

"That would be for the best."

The rest of the group looked on at the exchange in utter amazement. Not only was the eldest Potter talking so casually with a goblin, but for a goblin to offer something to a wizard, even going so far as to smile at him that was just impossible.

"Um Harry how do you know these goblins?" Charlie asked a little fear in his voice.

"What? Griphook and Snaggletooth, I met them when i first visited the bank." Harry answered.

Everyone's attention was turned to the door though when it opened and in came the director of Gringotts.

"Harry!" the goblin said.

"Ragnok, always a pleasure." Harry laughed.

"Did you enjoy the dragons heart?" Harry asked the three goblins.

"Of course, I'm guessing you know that it is a wonderful delicacy for goblin kind." Griphook answered

Ragnok smiled. "it is unfortunate that we are meeting again under such conditions."

"Yeah." Harry answered.

"Now lets get on with this." Harry muttered as the paper work was brought out, the Michaels went first followed by the Potters.

"Ah paper work, the bane of civilization." Harry thought, after over half an hour of 'bloody paper work'.

"As of now Harry has been emancipated, now as for his trust vault." Griphook continued.

"We'll start up a new vault for Harry, and continuing the transfer of funds to that vault." Lily

answered, as the others nodded in agreement that that was the least the Potters could do for their ex heir.

"No thanks I'm fine without your money." Harry said coolly. As the group with the exception of the goblins stared at him.

"My boy, your parents are just supporting you, just because they had to emancipate you doesn't mean that you're not family anymore." Dumbledore said in that grandfatherly tone.

"I don't want their charity." Harry muttered flashing his family a cold glare.

"Stop being so stubborn and just accept their kindness." Alice longbottom scolded.

"I don't need their kindness." Harry actually snarled.

"Don't be silly, you need to pay for school, there's no way you can survive without any money." Sarah added.

Harry was about to rebut her assumption, but it turned out that he needn't have bothered as Ragnok chuckled audibly. The rarity of a goblin actually chuckling caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"What's so funny?" asked Dumbledore.

"The fact that Harry truly doesn't need your money despite your assumptions." The goblin

laughed.

"What are you talking about?" James asked, honestly shaken by the weird way the goblins were acting today.

Ragnok spared a look at Harry, "did you actually expect something like this to happen?"

"Honestly no, that money was meant to be for the future, but I guess it was a lucky coincidence." Harry said with a mental smirk.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Celia asked in exasperation.

"May I, you're due a report on your accounts anyway."

"Fine, if it will get them to leave me alone." Harry groused.

"Well Harry has set up a separate vault transferring most of the trust vault into it and by using

it to invest he has had huge returns over the past few months." Griphook explained, while passing Harry a piece of parchment with the usual summary of his accounts.

"As we predicted the last time we met, all of your accounts have been able to make huge returns over the past few months. Your account now has about 400 000 galleons, not to mention we have further invested, as per your request there is also a summary of your investments." Ragnok explained, to the gasps of the people present.

"How did you get so much money!" Rose exclaimed.

"That's between them and me." Harry said mysteriously, indicating the goblins across the table.

"Now that our business is completed, we bid you to leave." Ragnok asked politely.

Harry though chose to stay as he had some other business in mind, "could i have a second of your time Ragnok, griphook, snaggletooth." Harry asked.

Seeing as they nodded Harry decided to continue, "How good are you at looking into real-estate?" Harry asked.

"We are quite adept at that as well, why?" asked Griphook.

"I was wondering if you could help me look for a house ?" Harry wondered.

"We could, do you have any preferences ?" snaggletooth asked knowingly.

"Well it would be good if it was a large, in a good neighborhood, magically protected." Harry described.

"I'm sure we could find something along those lines, anything else." Griphook said.

"No." Harry answered as he made his way to the door.

"May your pockets overflow and your enemies tremble in fear." Harry greeted, before leaving the room.

* * *

As Harry exited the room, the others who had left first had already exited the bank. One of these people being Albus Dumbledore, who was currently deep in thought.

At the forefront of these thoughts was Harry Potter, the boys relations with the goblins was nothing short of shocking to the old man. Dumbledore had lived for over one hundred and fifty years, he had thought that he had seen everything, today though the eldest Potter had thoroughly destroyed that thought. Never in all his years would he expect a wizard and goblin to act like friends. And yet he had seen Harry's interaction with the goblins with his own eyes, it astounded him, not to mention the financial capability of the eldest Potter that he had just discovered. He would later return to Hogwarts but with his thoughts still on that meeting with the goblins.

* * *

Harry was as of yet unaware of the aged mans growing interest in him, as he left the bank he spotted Draco and his parents who were obviously waiting for him along with Sirius. Harry stealthily walked towards Draco, who currently had his back turned towards him,

"Hi" Harry suddenly said directly into Draco's ear, causing the boy to jump up in surprise.

"Damn, you are such an arse!" Draco exclaimed, while Harry laughed happily at the boys reaction, even Narcissa giggled at her sons reaction while Lucius cracked a smile.

"How do you know the goblin director Harry ?" Lucius asked curiously.

"Oh you know we met when i first went to Gringotts. He came to see me because he wanted to see the polite wizard." Harry laughed.

"You know we really should be treating them better." Lucius pondered out loud.

"Anyway we'll leave you two alone now, I managed to convince your parents to give you some space Harry." Narcissa explained.

Harry nodded understanding why his parents and siblings weren't waiting to mob him again.

"Thanks aunt cissy." Harry said with a smile.

"Okay pup you have fun now." Sirius smiled.

"Stay out of trouble Drakey." Narcissa smiled before kissing Draco on the cheek, as Harry choked back his laughter.

As the three adults left them alone Harry and Draco made their way to the leaky cauldron to meet up with their friends.

When the group was finally together Roger asked the question that had been on his mind since meeting with Draco and Harry.

"How did you guys come together ?"

Draco paused and looked intently at Harry.

"We had some business to attend to at Gringotts." Harry answered.

"What kind of business ?" Daphne asked.

"My parents had gotten the idea in their heads that some of Voldermort's ex followers were going to target Charlie and Rose, so in order to get them some political protection they decided to pass me over for the heir-ship of the Potter family, they needed two ancient families to be present so they invited the Malfoy's." Harry explained mechanically while the faces of his friends ranged from astonishment to outrage.

"How could they!" Lisa practically shouted.

"That's insane! So their kicking you out of the family?" Cho asked horrified.

"They say its just on paper and that for all intents and purposes im still family." Harry shrugged.

"But what about your trust vault, if they kick you out your completely cut off." Tracy said.

"Well it seems that our Harry here has been keeping it a secret but it seems he has quite a lot of money hidden away." Draco commented.

"Your are so paying for lunch." Roger commented.

"I'm sure Drakey's mother gave him enough money for all of us." Harry chuckled, as Draco paled slightly at Harry's use of his pet name.

Cedric and Roger doubled over in laughter, even the girls were laughing at Draco's expression.

"Drakey... are you... serious." Cedric gasped out in between bouts of laughter.

"Does Ana call you that ?" Harry asked slyly, causing an even larger bought of laughter, while Anastasia slapped him on the arm.

"Damn you Potter." Draco muttered while trying to stop Cedric and Roger from laughing, but to no avail.

* * *

The weeks following Harry's emancipation went by swiftly as Harry had continued ignoring his family, spending most of his time in the library or his room. Apart from this though Harry had been avoiding his family by going over to his friends house, it was two fold as it also allowed him to avoid the seven Griffindors, who had taken to meeting up almost everyday.

"come on we have to practice if we want to get on the team." Roger whined, trying to convince the group to have a game of quidditch, Cedric and Cho nodded in agreement as they too had the same intention of trying out for the quidditch team.

"I don't mind." Draco agreed.

Lisa though was not in the mood, she had gotten increasingly nervous as the day they were supposed to get their results drew near.

"How can i focus on quidditch now!" she complained.

"Just relax Lisa our results will get here when they get here."Harry said in a calming voice.

"How can i relax, what if i don't do well." She said worriedly.

Roger scoffed. "Come on! There's no way you wont do well, what with all the work you put in."

It had no effect in calming the girl down though as she continued walking up and down worriedly, Harry who had taken a seat on a rock was watching her with amusement clear in his eye.

"Well there's only one subject I'm not worried about, potions." Roger commented.

"Potions? Really?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well I know I failed so, there's not much to worry about." Roger said plainly.

"You did blow up your cauldron before Snape could even sit down." Harry added.

Their conversation though was soon cut short when the sound of owls were heard in the distance.

"Are those..." Cedric asked.

"I think they have our results" Harry commented, as Lisa squeaked in excitement.

It soon became clear that there were 10 owls, with each one landing in front of each of them, Lisa wasted no time and immediately began ripping her letter open. Harry opened his letter feeling the parchment beneath his fingertips.

Dear Mr Potter

Congratulations on completing your 1st year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry enclosed are your results of your first year.

Key:

O- Outstanding

E-exceeded expectations

A-acceptable

P-poor

D-dreadful

T-troll

Subject/theory grade/practical grade (if applicable)/position in cohort

Results:

Transfiguration/O/O/1st

Charms/O/O/1st

Potions/O/O/1st

Herbology/O/O/2nd

Defense against the dark arts/O/O/1st

History of magic/O/1st

Astronomy/O/O/2nd

Cohort position-1st

Top 20 students of cohort:

1st-Harry Potter

2nd-Lisa Turpin

3rd-Hermione Granger

4th-Rose Potter

5th-Draco Malfoy

6th-Charlie Potter

7th-Anastasia Zambini

8th-Justin Steele

9th-Sean Michaels

10th-Celia Michaels

11th-Daphne Greengrass

12th-Neville Longbottom

13th-Cho Chang

14th-Michael corner

15th-hannah Abbott

16th-Damien

17th-padma Patil

18th-Tracy Davis

19th-Susan Bones

20th-Roger Davies

Congratulations, Minerva Mcgonigall

Deputy headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry

Harry couldn't help but feel pleased with his results, he was rather pleased with all the outstandings, he did wonder though who managed to get first for astronomy and Herbology. If he had to guess Neville probably got first for Herbology and Lisa or Hermione got first for astronomy.

When Harry finished his pondering he looked up and saw several shocked expressions facing him, the most amusing though belonged to Lisa. After another few minutes of silent staring Harry was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"What ?" he asked.

The first person to move though was Lisa who grabbed Harry's report card from his hand, staring at it disbelievingly.

"How did you get first place in the cohort Harry ?" Roger asked disbelievingly.

Harry just shrugged, "The exam wasn't that difficult."

"But your work..." Lisa said at a lost for words.

"I told you the work doesn't matter." Harry reminded.

"You got an outstanding in history of magic !" Roger exclaimed, taking a peak at Harrys report that was still in Lisa's hands.

"What did you guys get ?" Harry asked curiously.

"I barely got an acceptable, even Lisa only managed an exceeds expectations." Roger said.

"Well its not that bad if you listen in class."

"How can you stay awake with bins teaching!" Cedric asked.

"Using a lot of effort." Harry answered easily.

"But you don't even look like your focusing in class some times." Lisa exclaimed.

"Come on, what kind of books do you think I'm reading all the time." Harry asked in exasperation.

Harry had to suffer through quite a few questions, which in order to fully abate their curiosity Harry had no choice but to answer their questions. After about half an hour of such questioning Harry finally made it home. Unfortunately, Harry forgot that all of the Hogwarts students were receiving their results today, as Harry exited the fireplace at Potter manor he was immediately swarmed by seven Griffindors who were spending the day at Potter manor.

"Harry you really got 1st place ?" Rose asked as she ran in front of him followed swiftly by the six other Griffindors.

"Yeah why ?" Harry asked.

"How did you do it ?" Hermione asked, rather aggressively.

"I scored the best out of all the first years." Harry asked irritatedly.

"Can I see your report card ?" Hermione asked, although Harry personally felt that it was more of a demand then a question.

"Whats with everyone asking for my report card ?" Harry thought angrily.

"Is it really that hard to believe ? What do they think im doing when I hold an open book in front of me." Harry wondered.

"There's no way you could do better then Hermione." Ron sneered.

"Right im only in the house of knowledge and learning after all." Harry rebutted, smirking inwardly at Ron's reddening expression.

"Ill be in my room if you don't mind." Harry said before making his way up the stairs.

* * *

As Harry made his way into his room Harry sighed inwardly, this was getting tiresome. Harry had no idea though that at the moment, the staff of Hogwarts were in an uproar, mainly the professors to Harry Potter. All of the staff was currently meeting in their usual room to discuss the results of the final examinations, most of the staffs thoughts though were focused on the anomaly that was Harry Potter.

"so are we all present ?" albus Dumbledore asked.

The staff though didnt bother answering though, the headmaster had grown a tendency to ask rhetorical questions at times.

"Now then how did our students do this year?" he asked.

"The owl students did fairly well i believe." Professor Mcgonigal proposed.

"Yes there were a larger amount of outstandings this year, the NEWT students were fairly successful as well." Professor Flitwick added.

"What of our first year batch ?" the head master asked, a familiar twinkle in his eye..

"Well the five did as expected and finished in the top 20 of the cohort." Professor Mcgonigall offered.

Dumbledore nodded, " what of the other students."

"Well as mentioned earlier the talent in this year is exceptional, Ms Turpin and Ms Granger seem to be the prime examples, other notable names would probably be Mr Malfoy and ms Zambini." Professor Flitwick proposed.

"What of Harry Potter." The aged headmaster asked directly, seeing as none of the teachers wished to talk about the eldest Potter.

"I honestly have no idea Albus." Professor Mcgonigall admitted.

"His results in the examination have showed us that our previous views of him were completely off the mark." She added.

"I thought i had set a pretty difficult transfiguration paper but he nearly got a perfect score. Some of the answers he gave were as good as what I'd expect from a professor. As for his practical, he did the spells with such ease that i felt silly for even testing him." The transfiguration professor sighed.

"I concur with Minerva completely, his knowledge in charms was nothing short of brilliant, i couldn't help but award him the top score for charms." Harry's diminutive head of house admitted.

The aged head master took this answer stoically before looking at his spy and potions professor. "What about you Severus, despite your improving relationship with James i would never have expected that you would give his son the highest marks in the class." He joked, as those aware of their intense rivalry smiled.

Snape though scowled at the man, "The boy earned every single mark I awarded, his theoretical knowledge was staggering, his answers in the theoretical portion included facts that I didn't even cover in the class. As for his practical skills, the potion he brewed may have been simple, but it was completely perfect, it was as if i had decided to make the potion myself." The potions professor admitted, albeit a little grudgingly.

Albus was stunned upon hearing the response, it was one thing for Snape to give marks to Harry, but from what he heard from Snape the man was genuinely impressed with the Potter and that wasn't easily done.

The ex Potter heir was an enigma to the wizened wizard; he had first expected the boy to be a squib. Then the boy was accepted into Hogwarts proving him wrong. Now the boy was constantly surprising him, first the boy showed that he had such a good relationship with the goblins, a relationship that Albus Dumbledore would never be able to attain. Then the boy ended up blindsiding all of the staff's expectations and getting to be the top student in his cohort.

"What do you think of young Harry ?" he asked the rest of his staff.

"Not much I'm afraid, he has shown a keen sense of logic in the past though, even figuring out that i was an animagus." Professor Mcgonigall offered.

"His behavior during lessons though, and his work, do not show that he has such aptitude in the subject, as I mentioned before, his work indicates an average wizard. And yet his exams seem to disprove such ideas." She said, a frown on her face, trying to wrap her head around the complexities that circled the young Potter was about to give her a headache.

Dumbledore looked at the other professors who taught Harry, all of whom were nodding agreeing with Minerva fully.

"We shouldn't be so surprised though." Professor vector said out loud.

"What do you mean ?" Albus asked.

"From your accounts of the events in the third floor corridor, it is clear that Mr Potter took part in stopping you know who is that correct ?" she asked

As the head master nodded she decided to continue, "The fact that he managed to survive that encounter should have told us he has some talent."

"Either way in the upcoming year, I suggest we all keep an eye on the eldest Potter." The headmaster suggested before the meeting was adjourned.

* * *

Miles away, in a dark room that was ornately furnished, several individuals met once again after 10 long years.

"Why did you call this meeting." One of them rasped, in between coughs

"He has started moving again, the first sighting in 10 years." Another mentioned.

"Humph, I don't see why you put so much hope on Voldemort, there's no way we would fit into his ideal world should he win." The next one, this one sounding like a young lady no older than 18 complained.

"We did not lend him our support the last time because we wanted to, it was simply necessary." Another one answered in a cold yet distant voice.

"It doesn't matter which side wins, I couldn't care less."

"As long as the two sides are at war we have the perfect opportunity to move our plans forward, that is why we helped him the last time"

"What little good did that do, he didn't last nearly half as long as we needed him to." A young man added.

"Which is why we need to render him more support this time, for the sake of our own plans." That distant voice proposed again.

"I see no reason why we need to rely on that dark wizard." One of them commented, this ones voice sounding close to an elderly woman's.

"We need to keep the wizarding worlds focus on something else, and a war does that perfectly. Or do you think wizards like Dumbledore and Voldemort would stand by and let us accomplish our goals? If they should find out, and they would, I have no doubt that they would band together to wipe us of the face of the earth. And we are definitely unprepared for such a conflict, as of yet." a new voice added, this one resembling a middle aged man.

"If we are to compete with the wizarding world we will need the help of others." The young man offered.

"Most of those that we want to help us cannot be trusted, they do not share our goals." The elderly women commented.

"If you let me do things my way we could have simply killed Dumbledore by now." The young women whined.

"You underestimate him, he may be a human but he does not have the title of worlds strongest wizard for nothing, he might end you instead." A voice laughed in between coughs.

"You dare!" the young women screeched.

"Enough! your acting like children." The distant voice commanded.

"We hid ourselves for a reason, the last time we tangled with wizards it took us over seven hundred years to recover from the loss." The same voice lectured.

"The wizards now are a paltry comparison to those of the past." The young women commented.

"Do you really think that the foundation would stay out of such a battle." The distant voice commented.

"They interfered the last time and will most likely interfere this time as well, they are of not much consequence as long as they are not aided by the British wizarding community." The young man commented.

"As of now Voldemort hasn't even made his return yet, we can only act when he has done so or we risk revealing our hand too soon." It distant voice added once again, as the others at the table nodded in agreement.

"Till he returns we wait." They agreed.

* * *

Harry's summer went by in the blink of an eye, the key highlights being his twelfth birthday, he had been correct in his assumption that his parents would slowly learn to forgive themselves. By his birthday Harry had returned to anonymity in the family. This birthday though wasn't as intolerable as the past eleven years as he had at Sirius, Remus and Emilia. His friends had given him gifts as well, so all in all it was pretty good. Just like every other student on holiday though, the holidays seemed to zip right by and it wasn't soon that Harry and his friends soon found themselves back on the scarlet engine on their way back to Hogwarts their home away from home.

**And that's the chapter! Now a little warning my wonderful readers, there's gonna be 2 time skips coming up, I'll probably end off book 2 with a slightly longer chapter. And then ill skip to 4th year, the importance of book 3 is after all about Sirius being innocent and stuff like that so since in this story Sirius is innocence there's really not much to write about for book 3 so ill give Harry a normal year then.**


	8. Chapter 8 : second year

**To break out of a shadow**

**OMG another 20+ reviews in a week, Amazing!**

**As a reward enjoy this extra long chapter with 10000+ words, without all of the extra stuff of course.**

**chapter 8: second year**

Harry cursed for what was the tenth time today, as he made his way from the library he sighed inwardly, ever since that 'incident' at the dueling club Harry's life had gotten continually worse.

The first few weeks had been fine, Harry and his friends had stuck with the routine they had established the previous year. Cho, Roger, Cedric and even Draco had somehow managed to make it onto the quidditch teams of their respective house, as they would be forced to take part in training on such nights the rest of the group would be left to their own devices.

It was on one of these nights that had Harry venturing into the library alone, Lisa had chosen to stay in the dorms to study with Padma and Marietta. As Harry entered the library he spotted Daphne sitting alone in one corner, as he walked closer he spotted her cringing in frustration.

"What's gotten you so uptight?" Harry asked.

"Nothing." She muttered.

Harry raised an eyebrow but decided to sit down anyway, taking out a book Harry began reading, after 15 minutes Harry heard a loud sigh emanating from the opposite end of the table.

"Okay seriously what's wrong?" He asked.

Daphne frowned slightly, "History of magic." she sighed.

"What's wrong with history of magic?" Harry asked.

"I hate it all right; I can't even stay awake in Bin's class let alone finish his stupid assignment." She moaned, throwing the book against the table.

It was at that moment though that Harry's least favorite Slytherin decided to make his presence known, following behind him was his usual bunch of stooges.

"What are you doing with Potter, Greengrass, you could do-" he tried to sneer but was immediately hexed by Daphne who sent him sprawling on the floor. His posse looked like they were about to take out their wands but a growl from Daphne immediately sent them packing. Harry looked around and saw quite a few students who had seen the interaction begin to back away slowly from the blonde haired Slytherin.

"You know its things like this that make people call you the ice princess, right?" Harry asked.

"Like I have the time to care about what people like Nott think." She growled before she stared despairingly at the piece of parchment in front of her.

Harry chuckled slightly, earning himself a glare from the girl.

"Come on let me take a look." Harry asked, while sticking his arm out.

She looked curiously at him, "I doubt anyone can help me understand this stupid subject." she spat.

"I got an outstanding remember?" Harry commented, before she finally passed him her assignment.

Reading Daphne's assignment Harry found that it was pretty good she was just missing some key points, probably due to missing the points in class.

"It's not that bad your just missing some bits and pieces." He commented before passing her work back to her while he rummaged through his back, till he finally found his notes.

Harry passed the notebook to her, "try reading that, it should fill in the blanks." Harry offered, while Daphne read the book hungrily.

"It wouldn't be so bad if you managed to stay awake in class."

"I'm not even sure how you stay awake during his class yet alone take notes."

"A lot of effort." Harry laughed, finally getting a smile from the Slytherin.

"I still don't understand this part though..." she muttered.

Harry chuckled before trying to explain it to her, Harry had thus taken to meeting up with Daphne once a week since that day had begun to help her with her history of magic

assignments. This along with Harry's notes meant that her results were steadily improving.

Harry's lessons in Hogwarts were different this year though, unlike last year where Harry was pretty much left alone by the staff. This year though he wasn't granted the luck to be ignored by the staff but was instead regularly called upon by the professors to answer questions and demonstrate spells, at times even if there were other students trying to participate.

The questions weren't anything difficult to Harry, but he was slightly miffed that he wasn't given the chance to read as much as he wanted. It was probably thanks to this though that all doubts of Harry's abilities soon left the minds of the students and staff, there was no doubt that Harry had earned his 1st place ranking in the cohort.

Seeing as Quirell had turned out to be Voldermort's host and a traitor, there had also been a slight change in the teaching staff. Many of the students had believed that no teacher could be as bad as Quirell; unfortunately they were soon proven wrong. Gilderoy Lockhart, self proclaimed defeater of banshees vampires and werewolves had been chosen to be their new defense against the dark arts professor. Unfortunately, the man was a complete fraud, and a complete narcissus. The man was completely self absorbed, Harry swore the man was in love with himself. Needless to say their defense against the dark arts lessons were bordering between horrible and nightmarish.

Apart from that though the school year had honestly been a pretty good one for Harry and his friends, that is to say until Halloween night that was when it had all gone down the drain. It had started out like any Halloween day, where the entire school was in an honestly chipper mood, after the feast though the mood took a dip when Mr filches cat, Mrs Norris was found petrified and hung from the ceiling. On the wall behind it written in what looked like blood were the words 'the chamber of secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware'. The student body stared, at the body and writing for minutes, silence permeating the room. It was finally broken though when Nott decided to take the chance to make his opinions known.

"That means you mudbloods." He had shouted.

The atmosphere the next few days had grown tense and strained; many had hoped it would be just a cruel prank of sorts. It soon proved that that was not the case as Sally Ann Perks was found petrified in one of the moving corridors. Soon the atmosphere at Hogwarts School for witchcraft and wizardry was turned to one of fear as the staff tried to no avail to find the so called chamber of secrets. In the end Hermione asked professor Bins' about the chamber, and eventually the ghost conceded, telling them all about the chambers history. The sad part about it was that when the ghostly professor was talking about the chamber he was somehow able to keep the entire classes attention, Harry would have laughed at the curious turn of events if the atmosphere wasn't that morbid.

The attacks continued despite the staffs added attempts at protecting the student body; it was so bad that a dueling class had been formed to teach the students how to defend themselves better. It was a rather flawed idea though as Harry doubted that the creature of the chamber of secrets was harming students with a wand.

Harry for his part was getting rather unnerved, he had begun hearing voices right before some of the attacks, those voices being hell bent on ripping killing and all sorts of undesirable actions. Harry soon felt that he was hearing a snake, having discovered his Parseltounge abilities in his early childhood and having spoken to snakes before. He was completely confused though as he couldn't see any snake anywhere; he wouldn't be surprised if Slytherin's creature was a snake though the house crest did have a snake on it after all. Harry's Parseltounge abilities had been a well kept secret though, Harry held no shame in his abilities. To Harry there was only magic there was no dark or light there was only the intention driving said magic, to him Parseltounge was an incredibly useful ability and that was it. Unfortunately he knew that his 'family' and their friends did not share the same thought patterns and he had ended up hiding his ability only speaking to snakes when he was completely alone.

It was during the only time Harry went to the dueling club though that Harry's life at Hogwarts had spiraled out of control.

After a rather enjoyable moment of watching Snape send Lockhart flying across the room, the two instructors had decided to have a demonstration which featured Sean against Nott. During the conflict Nott had summoned a snake and that idiot, Lockhart had thought it would be a good idea to shoot the snake into the air. The snake had ended up landing on Tracy who screamed in fear as the snake turned towards her hissing menacingly.

"_sssstupid humansss i ssshould make you ssssuffer."_ It had hissed.

"_sssstop ! Release her at once."_ Harry had instinctively hissed in Parseltounge.

The snake paused, _"A sssspeaker!"_ surprise evident in its voice.

"_Let her go pleasssssse."_ Harry had hissed.

"_Of course noble sssssspeaker."_ The snake said before crawling to the floor and out the door.

When Harry looked back to the crowd he noticed that they had given him a wide berth, looks of fear plastered across all of their faces. Harry had made a swift exit from the room followed swiftly by the his friends

"You're a Parseltounge!" Roger had exclaimed.

"Yeah."

"Why would you show everyone that you're a Parseltounge, their going to think you're the one behind the attacks now?" Ana scolded.

Harry simply shrugged, "At least I stopped the snake from biting Tracy." Harry said smiling stupidly, as the group gave him stupid looks. Tracy though gave him a kiss on the cheek,

"Thanks, Harry." She had said smiling.

"Anytime." Harry had shrugged before walking towards the library.

"I don't think we should be going back to the dueling club." Cho commented, as the group nodded and followed Harry to the library.

By the next day though news of Harry's special skills had spread to the whole school and the whole school were now operating under the assumption that Harry was the heir to Slytherin. It didn't occur to them that they did not have any evidence but it didn't matter. Reality was often determined by perceptions, and as of now the inhabitants of Hogwarts found Harry guilty so to speak.

Harry's life at Hogwarts had steadily gone downhill form that day on as part of the student body turned against him. Lead by the Griffindors, the five chosen ones and their two friends had positively freaked out and began declaring Harry as the next coming of the dark lord, this was mainly lead by Weasley, the Michaels and Longbottom. His siblings and Granger weren't aggressively part of the 'Harry a dark lord movement' they weren't exactly going against it either, Harry could tell that they held suspicions about him.

To make matters worse, the Griffindors had by far suffered more under the attacks than any other house and had taken rather aggressively to Harry. The Hufflepuffs also had their fair share of victims but were still not as bad as the Griffindors as Cedric was doing his best to control them. The Slytherin's were a curious bunch though, they had at first begun treating Harry nicer that is until one of their own was attacked as well, proving that blood purity wouldn't be protecting them. They had then begun acting just as the Griffindors had, with the exception of Draco, Ana, Tracy, and Daphne.

Harry couldn't really blame students and staff for believing them, it was the words of the five chosen ones against his, he couldn't blame them but it didn't mean that he had to like their treatment.

Only the Ravenclaw's did not believe the words of the chosen ones, they found it stupid that Harry was thought to be the heir of Slytherin and treated him exactly the same, something he appreciated completely.

Most of the teachers though did not share the Ravenclaw's sentiments and suspected Harry of being the heir of Slytherin. This included them looking for any reason no matter how stupid to award Harry detentions, they probably thought that they would be able to keep Harry under their eye by doing so. It didn't matter though as the attacks still occurred with their previous consistency.

Only one teacher had believed that Harry was not the heir, and that was unsurprisingly his head of house professor Flitwick. He had helped Harry out once in a while, stopping students from taking their 'pranks' too far. Harry was used to ignominy; he was unfortunately unused to infamy, as he walked along the halls he was constantly greeted with stares of either suspicion or hatred. That wasn't too bad as his friends were there most of the time and that was all that mattered. The problem though was when friends, boyfriends or girl friends of victims had decided to come after Harry for some 'payback' as the muggles called it.

Harry had probably been to the hospital wing more times than the rest of the school combined this year. On the Bright side, Madam Promfrey had eventually taken a liking to the ex Potter heir, probably due to the huge amount of time they were spending together.

Harry had spent quite some time talking to her; it was rather interesting as she had been in charge in the hospital wing for almost 30 years so needless to say she had a variety of interesting stories of how students would find new ways to injure themselves. To Harry's surprise he had made another friend, Hogwarts groundskeeper himself Rubeus Hagrid.

Harry had run into Hagrid one day as he was walking the grounds when the groundskeeper had invited him for tea, Harry was surprised but hid his surprise easily and had followed the half giant. The tea could have been better but Harry soon found himself enjoying the man's company, he wasn't as bigoted as Harry had first thought. In fact, as Harry soon found out, the man knew what Harry was going through more than anyone else in the school, as he had been the last person suspected of opening the chamber. He had filled Harry in on the murder 20 years ago, right up to the point where his wand was snapped. The only problem with Hagrid though, Harry found was his utter blind trust in the aged headmaster of Hogwarts, whom Harry felt was going senile.

That decrepit old man had believed his precious chosen ones and suspected Harry as being the heir, the old man had taken up the habit of meeting with Harry after every single attack. He did so under the guise of interviewing his top student, but even an idiot could tell that it was an interrogation.

Harry was reminisced as he made his way to the hospital wing for the 3rd time this week. Harry may have been able to heal himself but some injuries he didn't want to mess with for fear of making things worse. As he entered the room he caught sight of the smiling face of madam Promfrey.

"What happened?" She sighed but still flashed him a warm smile.

"Fred and George is what happened." Harry spat.

"What did they do this time?" She asked, Harry lifted his left hand with his right, showing her the paralysis that plagued his forearm and hand.

"I think they put something in my food."

She sighed, while scanning his arm, "Its doxy venom, it's not harmful, but still. Those boys really need some self control." She muttered as she brought out a vial and passed it to Harry who downed it in one gulp before cringing in disgust.

"With all the time I spend here you should reserve me a bed." Harry scoffed.

The women smiled at him, "And which bed would you prefer?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well I do fancy the one near the window over there." Harry pointed, as the both of them laughed at his cheek.

Their conversation was interrupted though was soon interrupted as a large brown owl flew into the hospital wing a latter in its claws, it dropped the letter which Harry caught easily and immediately left the hospital wing. Harry saw it was addressed to him and took it out and began reading it.

_Dear Harry,_

_As per your request we have managed to find what we believe is a suitable piece of real estate that you can make your home. The house is located in a neighborhood in Belgravia, which is as you requested an upper-class neighborhood. Belgravia is to the south-west of Buckingham Palace. It is known for its expensive hotels and is considered by the rich to be a desirable place to live. There are many embassies are in the area. Belgravia is generally quiet and is a great area to walk around and admire the Georgian houses. There are also a number of exclusive shops, restaurants and attractive pubs present around the neighborhood. _

_The house is large physically and with a few enlargement charms should have no problem with giving you the space you need. As for protection, the neighborhood is well patrolled by the muggle police and the goblin nation has no issue with providing you with the magical protections you desire. In total the house itself would probably cost along the lines of 200000 to 300000 galleons, with your projected earnings from future earnings it seems to be not an issue._

_Yours truly,_

_Griphook._

Harry smiled, he was willing to pay no matter the cost, and at this point staying with his parents was no longer a viable option. His parents had reacted badly when they found out about Harry's little problem and had sent him a howler, he didn't really care but the fact that they trusted him so little removed any feelings of family he had for them.

His thoughts were broken though as he noticed a first year Griffindor, walking wearily towards him.

"Um... Harry Potter right?" the first year stuttered out.

"What ?" Harry asked, as the student jumped backwards while sticking his hand with a letter out.

Harry snatched the letter out of his hand, while the first year boy dashed out of the room, madam Promfrey, who had witnessed the whole event chuckled. Causing Harry to flash the women a glare of irritation.

"What's that?" She asked, indicating the letter.

"It's from the old coot." He muttered, causing her to laugh loudly.

"He might have deserved that name." She agreed.

"He wants to see you again?" she added, having seen Harry receive such a letter before.

"Yeah." Harry scowled before leaving the hospital wing and making his way to the head masters office. While opening and reading his letter,

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_I would be most pleased of you could meet me in my office immediately, to discuss a matter of great importance._

_Ps: my favorite candy is lemon drops._

_Yours truly,_

_Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

Harry finally made his way to that all too familiar stone griffin,

"Lemon drops." He muttered, while the stone gargoyle started twisting upwards revealing stairs that led up to the head masters office.

As Harry walked into the room he glanced appreciatively at the impressive office, for all of his flaws the man knew how to keep an impressive office. The room itself was large in a circular shape, with many windows and portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses. The room was surrounded by shelves of books in front of these tables were some spindly tables that played host to a number of delicate looking silver devices that whirled and emitted small puffs of smoke. On one of the shelves rested the sorting hat who was sleeping at the moment. On the other side of the rooms was a perch for the headmaster's phoenix Fawkes, who had just undergone a burning cycle.

To Harry's surprise the office, unlike his past 'interviews' was packed with people, the Longbottom's Michaels and Weasley's were sitting with his parents, while Hermione and Ron sat with the Weasley twins. All eyes turned to Harry as he made his way into the room sitting down away from the amassed group.

"Whoever it was that you think I attacked I didn't do it." Harry mentioned immediately, glaring at his parents who looked like they were about to move towards him but later decided against it.

"That's not why your here today, my boy." The old men corrected as Harry cringed at the man's friendly tone.

"I thought you would like to know that we have discovered the person behind the attacks." Dumbledore mentioned calmly.

"Oh? It's not me is it?" Harry asked sarcastically, as some of the staff had the decency to blush in embarrassment.

"Um. Yes we've discovered that the perpetrator of the attacks was Ginny Weasley, who has somehow been possessed by Voldermort." The old man explained, while the Weasley matriarch bawled in sadness.

"So all of you have been making my life miserable, but in fact the true perpetrator has been one of your oh so light sided Griffindors?" Harry pointed out, while indicating the Griffindors to his right, as everyone in the room cringed.

"Are you sure it's her?" Harry added.

"Yes the five and Mr Weasley and ms Granger here, saw her open the chamber and control the creature." He explained, as Harry nodded in understanding.

"The creature its a-." Hermione tried to bring Harry up to speed but was soon interrupted. Harry had long ago figured out what the creature was, very few snakes, even if they were magical were capable of surviving for so long and had the ability to petrify without bite marks. With some information from Hagrid and Harry's own magical sense, it didn't take long for Harry to figure out that a basilisk was roaming the pipes of Hogwarts.

"Basilisk that exits the chamber of secrets from the 2nd floor girls bathroom." Harry completed, drawing the stares of everyone in the room.

"You knew!" Hermione exclaimed, while Harry nodded.

"Just like how I knew that the philosopher's stone was in the third floor corridor." Harry reminded.

"Why didn't you say anything!" Ron shouted.

"What would that have accomplished, you all already suspected me at the time, if I had told you, you would have gotten it into your minds that I was the heir. You would have had me locked in Azkaban before I could have said innocent." Harry shot back, as Ron sputtered in indignation but had no way of assaulting Harry's logic.

"Well Harry, we-" Dumbledore started, but was immediately interrupted by Harry.

"Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you want old man." Harry said simply, as Dumbledore looked at him confusion evident, while the rest of the room was stunned at his tone towards the greatest wizard in the world.

"I'm sorry?" the old man asked curiously.

"You want me to do something for you don't you?"

"That's not-"

"Oh please do you take me for an idiot, you say you've figured out who was the perpetrator but you didn't say anything about catching her. Not only that I notice that we are five students short, and none of them are in the hospital wing as that's where I just came from." Harry mentioned, while giving a pointed glare at the Weasley twins, who looked away.

Dumbledore sighed, "Your siblings and their friends caught Ginny opening the chamber red handed, she tried to escape into the chamber and the five charged after her, unfortunately during the confrontation they got dragged into the chamber along with her before the door swiftly closed. We've tried to open the chamber ourselves but it is protected by strong wards that prevent those without Parseltounge abilities from entering, it was incredibly lucky that the wards didn't harm the five."

"So let me get this straight, you want me to go into an unknown chamber to face Ginny Weasley who has been possessed by Voldermort, so as to save 5 children who have been better trained than me who somehow managed to get themselves caught, oh and let's not forget the thousand year old basilisk that could kill me with a look." Harry commented sarcastically.

"Did I miss anything?" Harry added, as Harry's words caused several of the adults to cringe.

"Don't you have a defense against the dark arts teacher who should be handling this?" Harry asked.

"Well, Professor Lockhart was part of an accident and has... unfortunately lost all of his memories." Dumbledore explained.

"How did... forget it I don't want to know."Harry dismissed.

"Now back to the matter at hand."Dumbledore pressed.

"No." Harry answered.

"What!?" several voices rang out in disbelief.

"I'm sorry?" Dumbledore added.

"I am not going into the chamber."Harry answered.

"But Ms Weasley and the five needs-" Dumbledore sated.

"You expect me to risk my life for a group of people who have been making my life here at Hogwarts miserable?" Harry asked.

Some of those present cringed understandably, others though looked outraged.

"What about your siblings." Hermione exclaimed.

Harry shrugged, "I'm sure that being trained by the great Albus Dumbledore will be able to see them through."

"Harry please go and help them." Lily begged.

"Really you want me to use Parseltounge? I thought it was a dark and dangerous skill?" Harry mocked.

The atmosphere in the office looked tense; as the parents worried that the only person who could help their children was at the moment refusing to do so.

"How could you be so heartless, to be willing to stand by and let your siblings get hurt." Alice longbottom scolded.

"First of all I believe your more concerned about Neville then with Charlie and rose, so don't try and put up a show to convince me." Harry chuckled.

"Secondly, I've been emancipated remember? That means that for all intents and purposes they are not my siblings and they are not my parents." Harry snarled, as the Potters cringed at the harshness of his tone.

"Your still family Harry, were still your parents." Lily and James implored.

"Please! You haven't been my parents ever since Voldermort attacked that Halloween night, I only just realized the truth myself." Harry scoffed.

"That's not true Harry." Lily said desperately.

"Is that so?" Harry laughed.

"Then can you tell me when was the last time you celebrated my birthday?" Harry asked.

Confusion immediately appeared on the faces of all those in the room as they tried but failed

to remember the last time they celebrated Harry's birthday.

"Must have been pretty hard to remember that you have three children instead of two huh?" Harry mocked.

"If that's the case then I guess they don't need to let you stay with them anymore then, since you're no longer family." Darren commented desperation clear in his voice, as the others shared a knowing look, while the Potters looked shocked.

"So if convincing me won't work you'll resort to blackmail?" Harry commented, when Darren nodded though Harry burst out in uncontrollable laughter, leading to several rather disconcerted looks from those in the room.

"What's so funny!" Ron shouted.

"The fact that you think I need to stay with them, I've already have a house of my own and I plan to move out after this term at Hogwarts." Harry commented, to the shocked expressions of those in the room especially the Potters.

"You're far too young to be staying alone." The Weasley matriarch scolded.

"I've been taking care of myself for years now; I think I can handle it." Harry rebutted.

"Harry my boy lives are at stake here." Dumbledore added.

"Will you stop that?! I have never been or will ever be your boy, have I made myself clear." Harry scolded, staring at the now frowning Dumbledore.

Harry thought on it for a moment though, truth be told he felt that he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. If he didn't do something Voldermort might decide to release the basilisk on the school, the death toll would have been immense. He would have to go and help them, that didn't mean that Harry couldn't use this as leverage though.

"I'll help you." Harry mentioned, as Dumbledore broke out into a huge smile, he stopped though when Harry lifted two fingers in front of him.

"On two conditions." Harry smiled slyly.

Dumbledore frowned but knew that he didn't have much of a choice.

"What do you want ?" he asked.

"Firstly you will not do anything to try and influence my emancipation now or in the future, I rather enjoy my freedom." Harry mentioned.

"Fine, what else do you want?"Dumbledore asked.

"I want access to take anything I want from the Potter vaults." Harry mentioned.

"What?" James and Lily said, confused.

"Hah, so you want money." Ron scoffed.

"Real smart, make fun of the person whose going to save your sister." Harry sneered, as Ron blushed a rather interesting shade of red.

"For your information you twit, I'm not after the money in the vaults, what I want are the books and artifacts. They are worth far more than any amount of gold." Harry added. He had after all managed to copy all of the books in the Potter family library, and those books along with all of his belongings were already in his trunk. There may have been spells protecting the books, but when Harry had discovered he was to be emancipated he had immediately begun copying the books with a copying spell; as he was heir at the time he was able to easily bypass those wards.

Harry had read in journals though that there was another stash of books, and items that had been stored in Gringotts all of which were incredibly rare, it was those books that he had been interested in.

"Those are Potter family heirlooms." James said.

"You don't really have much choice in the matter, and besides you never even looked at the things in the vault before, There's no sense in letting them collect dust in Gringotts now is there." Harry added.

"Fine." James accepted in the end.

"All right is that all." Dumbledore asked, Harry thought over it for a moment before he was hit by a moment of inspiration.

"I want Hagrid completely cleared of his crimes and you are to see to it that he gets a new wand from Ollivander and that he completes his magical training." Harry added.

"What?" Dumbledore asked, as the rest of the room looked stunned.

"You're saying that Voldermort is the one who possessed Ginny, correct?" Harry inquired.

"Yes." Dumbledore said nodding.

"That would mean that he was and is the heir of Slytherin and that means that Hagrid wasn't behind the attacks all those years ago." Harry explained.

"But he did have an Acromantula breaking the school rules by keeping such a dangerous pet." Dumbledore defended.

"That isn't grounds for expulsion now is it?" Harry added.

"But I'm not part of the ministry so-"

"You are chief mugwump and such are you not, figure something out." Harry scolded.

Dumbledore sighed, as he knew that he had no choice in the matter, "Very well then Harry I agree to your terms."

"Swear to it." Harry demanded.

"Surely there's no need for something like that Harry." Dumbledore started but a stare from Harry led him to sigh deeply.

"I Albus Dumbledore swear on my life and magic that I will leave Harry James Potter's familiar status alone, well doing all within my power to free Rubeus Hagrid of all charges and to allow him to continue magical schooling." The aged headmaster swore.

Harry looked at his 'father' expectantly, "I James Potter swear on my life and magic that I will allow Harry James Potter access into the Potter vaults to take anything that he desires."

Harry smiled, "Now if you excuse me I have to go and face a 1000 year old basilisk and a dark lord." Harry scoffed, as he made his way out of the office followed swiftly by everyone in the room.

* * *

Harry soon found himself in the 2nd floor girl's bathroom, searching for a specific tap to unlock the chamber of secrets.

"It's that one." Hermione pointed out.

Harry studied the tap, and found it had a snake design on it. "How very subtle." Harry thought to himself.

"_Open."_ Harry hissed as the taps spread open to reveal a hole in the ground, which obviously led to the chamber. Harry opened his magical senses and found that Dumbledore had at least gotten something right, in that there was a huge amount of magical wards surrounding the entrance.

Harry took a deep breath before jumping into the hole, Harry slide down a rather long pipe before falling into a pit. Harry frowned, _"Lumos"_ he said as he took his wand out.

As a burst of light exited the wand Harry found himself in a pit standing on top of piles of bones, cringing, Harry continued making his way down the pipe with crunching noises being heard underfoot.

He soon found himself in a wide room with low ceilings, in the room was a gigantic snake skin, Harry estimated that the skin measured at least 50 feet. "Well at least I'll be rich if I manage to kill it, Harry thought brightly.

Harry soon found himself in front of what looked like a vault door, that had several snakes on it,

"_Open." _Harry hissed, as the snakes started moving, and after making a discernible pattern the door swung open to reveal the chamber of secrets.

The chamber of secrets had a large pathway of concrete that led the length of the chamber to a large wall with the stone face of Salazar Slytherin carved into it. Flanking the pathway seeming to grow out from the water were several pillars as well as snake statures. The room was decorated in a rather dark and drab motif that Harry was honestly baffled by.

In the center of the room was Ginny Weasley, while Harry noticed the five chosen ones on one side who were either stunned or dead. As Harry checked he found that his first guess was correct in that they had been stunned. Harry then made his way to the youngest Weasley, soon realizing that she was not in good shape, the girl was cold and clammy and looked like the life had been sucked right out of her.

"She won't wake." A voice said from behind him, Harry spun around facing a rather handsome looking youth in Slytherin garb.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"My name is Tom Riddle." The man mentioned.

It soon became obvious to Harry though who tom riddle really was, "Would you like me to call you Voldermort instead?" Harry asked.

The youth's eyes widened in surprise at being discovered, before he calmed himself and removed a wand from his pocket. Harry was faster though and immediately sent a cutting curse at him, the spells went right through him though and instead decapitated one of the stone statues.

"Your spells can't hurt me, I have power you cannot hope to understand." Voldermort laughed.

Harry opened his magic senses and he saw tom riddle, whom was made entirely of magic, connected to him was strands of magic that led to a diary that was laying on the floor. Connected to the diary were strands of magic that led to Ginny. The diary itself was emanating a sickly feeling that Harry found hard to describe. Harry's eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at, he had read about it one day while in the black family library in a book talking about death magic's, Harry considered such usage of magic as a deviation of what magic truly was.

"A Horcrux." Harry thought with disgust.

"Lord Voldermort is forever immortal you fools, these five may have somehow defeated me in my future, but I will never be destroyed." He laughed manically.

"Because of your Horcrux?" Harry asked, as tom riddle immediately stopped laughing and stared menacingly at Harry.

"Tell me Riddle who did you kill to create that Horcrux, huh?" Harry asked mockingly.

Riddle sneered. "Insolence." he shouted, while brandishing his, Ginny's, wand menacingly.

"How long are you going to act so high and mighty?" Harry asked.

"You're not even a pureblood are you, I've never heard of a pureblooded family by the name of riddle." Harry mocked, Harry had no idea why but something about the young Voldermort severely irked him, he was unlike his older self who was that much more refined. Tom reminded Harry of Theodore Nott, albeit far more dangerous.

"Who are you?" Tom asked.

"I'm their sibling." Harry answered, pointing at Charlie and rose.

"So you're the brother that nobody knows, this girl does seem to have some memories of you." Tom laughed, twirling Ginny's wand in his hands.

"Yeah there's one more thing you should know though." Harry mentioned, as Tom perked up.

"I'm the one who defeated you." Harry whispered, before dashing for the diary.

Voldermort was surprised but recovered quickly pointing the wand at him, _"Avada Kedavra."_ He shouted.

As bright green light shot from the tip of the wand, Harry reacted immediately and conjured a piece of stone in front of him, as the killing curse hit the wall it sizzled into non existence.

Tom though took the time to summon the basilisk. _"Sssssspeak to me Ssssslytherin, the greatest of the Hogwartsssss four."_ At his word the mouth of Salazar Slytherin opened and a sixty foot long snack slithered out.

"Kill him." Riddle roared.

The snake hissed before dashing towards Harry, Harry cursed and shut his eyes, forcing himself to see through his magical sense. Through that he noticed that the snake had several powerful charms placed on it that reinforced its hide.

"Avada Kedavra." Tom hissed.

As Harry conjured another stone wall in front of him to block the deadly curse. The basilisk although large was incredibly fast and was meters away from Harry.

"_bombarda."_ Harry shouted, releasing an explosion right in the basilisks face. The snake roared in pain as it reeled in shock.

Harry immediately jumped to the left though as a jet of green light flew past him.

"_fumingant."_ Harry shouted, as smoke shot out from the inside of his wand blinding Voldermort as Harry ran towards one of the passage ways leading away from the chamber, the basilisk in short pursuit. Dealing with one of them was tough enough but the both of them together was just trouble.

As he dashed along the passage way he heard the telltale signs of a large snake following behind him closely. Harry pointed his wand at the ceiling,

"_frange fragor effodiunt."_ Harry exclaimed, as the top of the passage way gave way and buried the serpent. Harry slowly made his way back into the chamber, seeing riddle was inspecting the five chosen ones and had his back turned Harry made a mad dash towards the diary.

Riddle spotted him though and turned to face him,_ "erumpo prosilio."_ He shouted as explosions began in front of him and continued advancing in Harry's direction.

"_aegis protegius maximus."_ Harry shouted, the shield protecting him from the spell but the impact still managing to throw him away from the diary, Harry landed along the side of the chamber in the water and stood up facing his enemy.

Before either could make a move though the basilisk burst forth right beneath Harry, its huge teeth gripping on to the slender youths arm. As Harry was lifted into the air as the snake shook itself violently.

Thankfully the basilisk hadn't bitten his wand hand, Harry pointed his wand at the snakes body.

"_fulgeo luximor."_ Harry shouted, as that familiar burst of blue light shot from the tip of his wand and blasted the basilisk point blank.

The snake screamed in pain, dropping Harry, to the floor. Once he landed Harry pointed his wand at the snake, aiming at the snakes new sizzling wound.

"_bombarda."_ He shouted, not bothering looking at the basilisk get thrown into the chambers wall as he jumped to the left dodging a burst of green light that shot past him.

"Is that the only spell he knows." Harry thought, as he pointed his wand at Voldermort, who was looking far more solid at the moment.

"_aqua fluctus."_ Harry said, as a wave of water shot towards the future dark lord. Pushing him back, the wave of water also had the added effect of splashing against the five who were slowly rousing from unconsciousness.

Harry stumbled slightly as he felt the effects of the basilisks poison begin to eat away at him. He spared a glance at his arm noticing three raw wounds bleeding along with a basilisks tooth in his arm. Harry cringed sucking in his breath while pulling the tooth out, then a thought occurred to Harry, as he took out a vial of silvery looking liquid.

Harry saw both Voldermort and the basilisk begin to recover, "What do I have to lose." He muttered, before swallowing the entire bottle. Harry felt a new surge of energy coursing threw him as he actually felt the venom within him being burned out.

As Harry finally recovered he saw the basilisk once again charging towards him,

"_lacrima discerpo."_ Harry shouted, as a huge gash appeared on the basilisk, Harry frowned visibly, he had used several pretty powerful spells on the snake but it had barely slowed the snake down, the only thing that actually stopped it for the moment was dropping the ceiling on it, that was when a thought occurred to Harry, the snake may have been charmed to be resistant to magic but it wasn't as protected against natural phenomena like falling rocks.

Harry couldn't really try anything with tom constantly interrupting though, Harry noticed the five rousing though and a plan formed in his mind, he saw tom walking towards him wand in his hand.

Harry banished the basilisk fang in the direction of his siblings and the other five chosen ones before moving to distract riddle.

"_Lumos."_ He shouted funneling magic into his Threstral wand blasting the phantom with such intense light that he blinded him momentarily.

"Destroy the diary." He shouted as looks of understanding dawned on the faces of the children who began running towards the diary.

Voldermort while blinded and writhing in pain, or rather discomfort. Still started sending spells haphazardly towards the five, who dipped and tucked to avoid the spells, thankfully due to their training with the old coot they were doing rather well.

"At least that old fools worth something." Harry thought before returning his attentions to the basilisk in front of him.

"_reducto."_ Harry cried. Blasting the snake backwards, lifting its head from the ground, which was exactly what Harry was waiting for.

"_frange fragor effodiunt."_ Harry exclaimed while pointing at the ceiling, causing the ceiling and several stalagmites in the process to fall sharply on the basilisks head. Harry's luck was with him at the moment as one of the stalagmites fell swiftly on the snakes head. Causing it to tumble onto the ground, while it continued thrashing Harry continued blasting the ceiling causing stalagmites to continue raining down on the snake.

A burst of golden light from the corner of his eye caught Harry's attention as he turned just in time to see the future dark lord disappear into non-existence.

Harry let out a sigh of relief as he finally saw the snake stop thrashing, Harry finally sat down, tending to the wounds on his arm. The venom may have disappeared courtesy of the unicorn blood but the wounds could still be life threatening if not properly treated.

"Madam Promfrey's going to have a field day with this." Harry groaned.

Harry heard the all too familiar sounds of footsteps, looking up Harry saw the five chosen ones walking towards him, the diary in rose's hands while Charlie and Sean lifted Ginny.

"Harry are you okay?" Celia asked.

"Yes the wounds in my arms tell you that." Harry replied sarcastically, standing up and

making his way out of the chamber, the five chosen ones in hot pursuit.

"She okay?" Harry asked.

"I think so she's, warmer now." Charlie answered.

"You came to help us." Rose asked.

"Yes imagine that, me, a future dark lord helping the children who lived." Harry scoffed, as the five of them blushed in embarrassment.

"But Parseltounge is a dark art."Neville said.

"In case you still haven't noticed, Parseltounge is the only reason I'm here helping you, do you still think its dark." Harry asked, as Neville cringed in confusion.

"More importantly, did you learn nothing from what I told you last year!" Harry scolded.

"Huh?" the five of them muttered simultaneously.

"What were you doing at the second floor girl's bathroom, when you saw Ginny open the chamber?" Harry asked.

"We had figured out that the opening was there, because that's where Murtle died, and we went there to check it out." Rose muttered.

"And you didn't bother telling the teachers." Harry muttered, feeling the intense urge to pound his head against the nearest wall increasing.

"How is it that every time you idiots decide to do something stupid I end up getting injured while helping you?" Harry scolded.

"Thanks for helping us." Rose added, while the rest of the five thanked him as well.

"Yeah, just stop causing me trouble." Harry scolded, as the group finally found themselves at the entrance to the chamber of secrets.

* * *

As the group finally made their way out of the passage back to the second floor girls bathroom, Harry found that there was a welcoming committee waiting for them. Those in the office who had followed him had ended up waiting for them the entire time, seeing the group exit the passageway. They immediately swarmed over them, as the parents of each individual child began fawning over their respective children with the entire Weasley clan fawning over Ginny. Harry though was once again forgotten by his parents, who were too busy worrying about Charlie and Rose. There may have been a time when Harry would have felt hurt at such a turn of events, those times were pass now though as Harry simply observed the Potter family for one minute with a look of cold indifference before making his way out of the bathroom heading straight for the hospital wing.

When Harry finally got into the hospital wing, madam Promfrey greeted him with her customary smile, that smile faded swiftly though when she spotted Harry's bleeding and wound ridden arm.

"I'm back." Harry joked, while the women gave him a stern look of disapproval.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Slytherin's bloody beast that's what." Harry scoffed.

"You saw it?"

"I killed it."he answered, as the women began pushing him to a bed.

"Did you reserve me a bed." Harry joked once again.

"Of course here you the, the one next to the window, just how you like it." She said sarcastically.

As Harry sat down on the bed she immediately began her usual wand waving while fussing

over his wound.

She opened a bottle of foul smelling salve and began rubbing it around the wounds,

"Ow!" Harry complained.

"Don't be such a baby, I've seen worse." She chided.

"Your bedside manner is horrible." Harry rebutted, drawing a laugh from the woman.

At that moment the rest of the group finally arrived at the hospital wing, immediately trying to draw the attentions of the caretaker of the hospital wing.

"Poppy, Ms Weasley and the five need your attentions." Dumbledore mentioned.

Madam Promfrey examined the group, walking over them before waving her wand, after which she began walking back towards Harry,

"They'll have to wait I have more pressing patients." She answered.

That answer wasn't satisfactory to the red haired Weasley matriarch though who began raising her voice.

"More pressing patients?" she screeched.

"My daughter's lying on that bed unconscious." she added.

"And yet there does not seem to be anything wrong with her, she's only slightly exhausted, the other children have nothing but scratches and bruises." She answered back, seeing that she had their attention she decided to continue.

"Compared to Harry those injuries are negligible, now I shall remind you Mrs Weasley this is a hospital, so you should keep your voice down." She added before leaving the woman slack jawed while walking back towards a rather amused Harry.

"Nice." Harry chuckled.

"There always was something a little too overprotective about that one." She pondered out loud while she began closing Harry's wounds.

"You forgot about her inherent abrasiveness." Harry added, causing a slight chuckle from the matron, while he enjoyed the tingling sensation running along his arm.

"You should be fine, but you'll have to stay in the hospital wing for observation." She commented while passing him a vial containing a brown colored solution.

"No anything but that." Harry whined, unwilling to spend another week in the hospital wing.

"You'll stay in that bed and you'll like it." She scolded, causing a laugh from Harry as she made her way back to Dumbledore.

Harry rested his head on the comfortable pillow, closing his eyes and hopping to catch up to some sleep, that wasn't going to be the case though as Harry was roused by the two people he really didn't want to be talking to right now.

"Harry, are you okay?" Lily asked.

"Great now they notice." Harry thought to himself irritatedly.

"I'm fine, now leave me alone." Harry sneered.

They did not take his warnings though and instead chose to sit around his bed, Harry sighed audibly before looking at his parents rather scathingly.

"Alright what do you want?" Harry asked.

"We found a way to take you back into the Potter family Harry under adoption." James proposed, a smile on his face, as if that solved all of their issues.

Harry laughed once again, this time though it was hysteric and uncontrolled and it drew the attention of all those in the hospital wing, with those who were petrified as the sole exception.

"And what makes you think I want to go back?" Harry asked.

"What?" the two Potters replied.

"Believe it or not, but I have no desire to return to your family, I did but not anymore you lost your chance, the only other time I want to see you again is at Gringotts." Harry answered.

"But-" James started. Harry interrupted him though by pointing at his two siblings.

As the two Potters looked at them Harry continued, "You see those two, they're the ones who need you, I don't, not anymore, that ship has sailed. So go and take real good care of them like you have always done, and leave me alone." Harry answered with a tone of finality watching as the two Potters slumped before walking back to the two children who still considered them parents.

* * *

The following weeks were a descent back to normalcy for the school, Harry wasn't there when Dumbledore announced that the heir of Slytherin had been Ginny Weasley possessed by Voldermort and that the five chosen ones and Harry Potter had stopped him. But from what his friends told him there had been an epic celebration where students and teachers both took part. The final year examinations for most had also been canceled with the fifth and seventh years being the main exception, much to Hermione and Lisa's chagrin.

Harry had been stuck in the hospital wing but he had gotten a load of visitors, mainly from those who had attacked him in the first place, coming to apologize for their grave error. More importantly Harry's friends and his housemates even his head of house had also come by a few times to try and alleviate his boredom. Harry couldn't stand it though and at times found himself becoming stir crazy, it was at these times that he would sneak out of the hospital wing for a walk, he had done this once or twice but had to stop when he got caught by madam Promfrey once, where she casted the incarcerous spell on him leaving him tied up and left on the bed.

His time in the hospital wing did leave him with just enough time to sort out his living accommodations though which was a blessing, by the time Harry left Hogwarts his house would be furnished and ready for use.

The rest of the year would pass by rather quickly for Harry and his friends, as after the excitements of the first few months the normalcy after seemed to accelerate time. The group soon found themselves at the year end feast, where Dumbledore announce that Ravenclaw had won the house cup, much to the Griffindors excitement, there was no way Dumbledore could steal their victory this year that much was for sure. In all the excitements though, Harry excused himself sneakily making his way back into the chamber of secrets. Harry soon found his way back into the chamber where he had that fateful battle with riddle and the basilisk and he began unearthing the dead basilisk.

"Magic makes everything easier doesn't it." Harry thought to himself. After twenty minutes of spell casting the snake was finally unearthed. It was in pretty good shape and Harry, with his magical sense found that the enchantments on the basilisk had soon worn out after its untimely death. The snake was still highly resistant against magic though, thankfully the resistance did not work on shrinking spells, such spells couldn't be used on living beings anyway, after Harry cast the spell he took the shrunken form of the basilisk and put it into a jar he had brought for the occasion.

Harry was about to make his way out of the chamber when a thought occurred to him,

"There's no way Salazar Slytherin would make a room for just his pet basilisk, right?" Harry asked out loud to no one in particular.

After a moment of consideration Harry thought what could it hurt,

_"Open."_ He hissed loudly.

Harry frowned disappointingly when nothing happened at first, before he could walk out of the chamber though he heard the sound of the stone moving and turned around seeing a pathway of stone rising from the sections with water leading to a wall on the right side of the chamber. A wall that as of this moment opened up into a doorway.

Harry eagerly ran in through the doorway, as excited as a child on Christmas day. The room, which Harry guessed, was Slytherin's personal study was a dark and musty room with a single chandelier illuminating the room. The room was small but held 5 book shelves that were overflowing with books. At one corner stood a small desk that held a lamp, Harry decided to rummage through the desk finding some of Slytherin's personal journals and even a box that Harry was unable to open.

Harry felt that he couldn't risk leaving them for fear of Dumbledore trying to come and raid the chamber. Harry was pretty sure that the room was well secured but it was best not to underestimate Dumbledore who knew what he would do. So Harry ended up shrinking and taking everything in the room, which he planned to sort through latter. What most intrigued Harry though was the personal journals of Slytherin, Harry realized they were written in Parselscript after a brief skim and he couldn't wait to read them. Leaving the room, Harry had never been so excited to get to the dorms before and once he was there he entered the library in his trunk. And began sorting through the library immediately, it didn't take long but Harry soon found that it was already two in the morning. Harry was pretty much done with the sorting adding a truly impressive amount of rare books to Harry's collection. There were some books that were written by Slytherin himself, Harry guessed that even Voldermort and Dumbledore would give an arm and a leg for some of the books.

The only thing that Harry had a problem with his findings from the secret room in the chamber though was the box that he had discovered on Slytherin's desk. It simply refused to open no matter what Harry did to it, from the simplest to the most complex of unlocking charms nothing could get it to open, Harry was honestly stumped, but decided to figure it out some other time.

Harry was understandably sleepy during the train ride home, as he probably only got one to two hours of sleep, he didn't really recall what they talked about during the train ride but he had a feeling that he had just invited his friends over to his new home in the upcoming weeks. At Kings Cross Station, Harry greeted the families of his friends, speaking with them for a moment and accepting Narcissa's invitation to visit them at Malfoy manor. At that moment Harry said his goodbyes and walked towards his parents, seeing him they smiled warmly but Harry returned with a nod.

The group along with Sirius made their way to the floo network heading to Gringotts, at the moment Harry was catching up with Sirius. The Potters had originally attempted to have Sirius convince Harry to come back to the family but Sirius was completely on Harry's side refusing to do so.

"So when can I visit your new house?" Sirius asked, while Remus chuckled at the man's tone.

"Right after I have the doggy door installed." Harry said seriously, eliciting a raucous laugh from Remus.

"It seems I taught you too well." Sirius moped, as the group made their way through the floo network.

* * *

In Gringotts Harry had become somewhat famous in the goblin community, and once he had entered the bank the tellers had already alerted snaggletooth, Griphook and Ragnok.

Harry watched as Griphook approached him, "Harry! It is as always a pleasure to meet you."

"And what can we do for you today ?" Griphook asked with a curious glance at the Potters behind him.

"We need access to the main Potter vaults." James mentioned.

Griphook looked apprehensively, "May i know for what?"

"They have agreed to let me take some items from the vault." Harry answered.

"May i ask how you managed to convince them?" Griphook asked.

"I had some leverage in negotiations." Harry whispered silently, to the smiling goblin.

"Very well we shall make our way to the vaults immediately." Griphook said, as he made his way to the trolleys, while Harry began strolling right beside him.

After a rather exhilarating ride in the goblin trolley system Harry and the Potters found themselves at vault 20 also known as the Potter family vault. Harry made his way into the vault heading past the mountains of gold and silver he headed right for the rows of shelves at the end of the vault.

Harry immediately began searching through the old tomes found in the vault, the tomes he found there actually made his mouth water. Some of the authors present on the shelves included notable wizards in history such as Merlin or Godric Griffindor. Harry wasn't heartless enough to take all the books, and leave the Potters with nothing deciding to copies of most of the books, for the rest of the books though he would take the originals and take the copies. After an hour of copying and replacing books Harry soon collected the entire Potter vault collection in his bag choosing to move on to the family items.

Harry added a variety of magical trinkets that day; the Potter vault was almost as rich in artifacts as it was with gold, although he didn't take everything he did take quite a bit. His siblings had not known of the stash and had taken the chance to take one or two trinkets for themselves; luckily there was a book present that could help identify each trinket. Harry didn't really mind unless they took something which he wanted. Harry was pretty pleased with some of his discoveries, one of which was a ward stone that could throw up and take down a powerful form of ward instantly.

When Harry, Sirius and the Potters finally exited the vault latter, Harry said his goodbyes to his family and more importantly Sirius and Remus, claiming that he had some private business with the goblins, which was true.

When they finally got into a private room for their discussion, Harry sat on a familiar looking chair with Griphook sitting opposite him.

"So how do you like the house?" Griphook asked.

"I haven't seen it in person, but the pictures look good." Harry answered happily.

"So what do we have to discuss, or was that simply a way for you to make them leave you alone?" the goblin asked smiling.

"Actually i do have some business with you." Harry answered.

"You told me that dragon meat is a delicacy for goblins right, does that mean that basilisk is one as well?" Harry asked.

"Of course it is, have you ever heard of the puffer fish Harry." The goblin asked.

"Well a puffer fish can blow its self up and has hidden spikes that can extend out to poison its predators, that's pretty much all I know."Harry answered.

"Well in the Japanese cultures it is known as Fugu and it is known as the most exotic of delicacies, basilisk meat is the same for us. Like the preparation of Fugu chefs need to slice and separate the meat from the venom sacks of the fish. Preparing basilisk meat is even more difficult as the venom veins of the snake run along the meat of the snake, a special knife is needed to even attempt to cut the meat." The goblin said fanatically.

"So I'll take it that you would like some of this meat then?" Harry asked.

"Of course, why do you ask?" Griphook asked.

Harry smiled at the goblin while he took out the jar containing the basilisk.

"How does a sixty foot thousand year old basilisk sound?" Harry asked, as the eyes of the goblin in front of him bulged.

"I'm guessing you shrunk it after its death?" the goblin asked.

Harry nodded, "Killing it was rather difficult though."

"So are you interested?" Harry asked.

"Indeed we are, are you selling us the entire snake?" Griphook asked.

"I would like some of the skin." Harry answered.

"Understandable."

"Considering that it is a sixty foot one and a thousand year one at that, I wouldn't be surprised if it was conservatively priced at around five to six hundred thousand galleons." The goblin answered.

Harry's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as Harry whistled in appreciation,

"Well then im sure we can come to an agreement then." Harry said smiling, as the goblin smiled in response.

* * *

Harry arrived at his new neighborhood five hundred and fifty thousand galleons richer, smiling as he examined the neighborhood Harry was impressed. It was as nice as Griphook had mentioned, Harry then turned around, facing what was to be his new home.

Harry inspected his new home, rather impressed, it was a double story building of white marble that was designed in a Victorian setting, as was the gate. It had a rather large garden and Harry could practically feel the magic the goblins had used to protect his home, Harry had seen book about warding in the Slytherin's study and in the Potter vault thinking that he would take a shot at adding protections once he had done enough reading and studying on the subject.

As Harry walked through the solid mahogany doors of his new home a thought occurred to him,

"Home sweet home." he thought, with a smile as he closed the door.

**And that's the end of the chapter!**

**Sayakra- sorry but I wrote this before reading your comment so the snake had to die (T.T)**

**now then thanks for reading and I hope you loved it as much as I loved writing it, next update should be up next Friday. **


	9. Chapter 9:

To break out of a shadow

**A/N: hey everyone im back with chapter nine, and of course it was your amazing 31 reviews that gave me the strength to do so, lol.**

**there's only one thing I need to talk about here so ill make it brief as usual those not interested may skip ahead.**

**This comment popped up once or twice mainly talking about a logic hole in my story the one about why harry wasn't sent down into he chamber with any of the teachers. If you'll read Dumbledore's request and retelling of the facts you'll notice that he mentions how there are wards present that prevents those without Parseltongue abilities to enter. So you guys are looking at the wrong logic flaw as you should be asking how come the five could have gotten in without the wards frying them. Lol. I did explain how they got in though by using that wonderful oh so useful explanation, luck lol.**

**Anyway on with the story bringing to you a chapter with 7000+ words, without the A/N of course.**

Chapter 9 : the international wizarding youth cup

Harry potter now 14 years old sat in his usual compartment on the Hogwarts express with his friends, on their way to their fourth year at Hogwarts. Harry smiled in remembrance of the past year, unlike the two years before that Harry had to risk his life. Harry's third year was mostly normal; there may have been issues at the start of the year when peter Petigrew had escaped from Azkaban. The issue was soon concluded though when Petigrew was caught once again outside a McDonald's. Yes the year was a normal one Harry and his friends, Harry couldn't shake the feeling though that this was merely the calm before the storm.

"Where the hell are Cedric and Cho?" Roger asked exasperatedly.

"Cedric said he was going to talk to some friends from Hufflepuff i have no idea where Cho is though." Ana mentioned.

Harry gave a knowing smile, the others might not have realized but he had. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seekers had gotten together towards the end of the final exams in their third year. They had Chosen to keep it quite for the moment but Harry spotted the looks they gave each other, not to mention that they always seemed to disappear at the same time.

The door to the compartment soon opened though as the two in question entered the room with a rather obvious blush on their faces.

"Where have you been?" Roger asked again.

"Talking to some of the Hufflepuffs." Cedric answered somewhat mechanically.

"Really?" Harry asked as those in the compartment turned to him.

"Yes why?" Cedric asked a surprised expression on his face.

"I was just wondering which of the Hufflepuffs use red lipstick." Harry asked curiously as Cedric's hand shot to his lips immediately.

Roger smiled gleefully, "Nice work! Who were you snogging." He asked excitedly, looking at the compartment it could be seen that he wasn't the only curious one, as all the girls, save one Cho Chang, began crowding around Cedric.

"Um,um,uh-" Cedric, confused while sparing a glance at Cho who looked just as lost.

"I have a feeling it wasn't a Hufflepuff Cedric was snogging, huh Cho?" Harry said slyly, as Cedric and Cho blushed a rather nice shade of bright red.

The rest of the compartment exchanged glances with each other before staring at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"You and Cedric?" Lisa asked, as Cho nodded, the bookish Ravenclaw squealed in glee.

"Since when?" she asked happily.

"I believe it was the end of last years final exams." Harry answered, eliciting a look of surprise from the new couple.

"You knew?" Cedric asked.

"The signs were there." Harry laughed, laughter which was soon accompanied those of his friends.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Harry though as he talked and chatted with his friends there was another meeting going on one with darker purposes.

"This is taking far too long." The young female whined.

"He's already tried twice and he has failed both times!" the young man agreed.

"We have already waited for centuries, surely a few years more is not going to be a problem?" A voice asked in between coughs.

"And how long do you think we can wait for that dark lord." The elderly women asked.

"Do we have much of a Choice? Is there any other dark lord we can use to use in Britain?" the distant voice asked.

"I still see no reason to rely on dark wizards." The young women whined.

"We've been through this before, we need something to distract the wizards and Voldemort and a war between the two sides suits that purpose perfectly," the distant voice rasped.

"Why do so in Britain anyway, there are other places we could do something like this." The young man asked.

"Britain has enough magic for us to do what we wish, and the foundation has always left Britain a wide berth." The distant voice explained.

"Cant say I blame them." The young women added, as the rest nodded in agreement.

"We could send some one to help him accelerate his plans." The young women offered.

"Who do you have in mind?" the young man asked.

"I'll find someone." The young women smiled predatorily as her eyes turned to slits.

"Fine find someone to help the fool." The distant voice said with an amused tone.

* * *

Harry had no idea such a meeting was happening though as he was at the moment sitting in the great hall watching as the new students were sorted.

Harry sighed audibly, "How boring." Harry moaned.

Lisa though looked at him apprehensively, "suck it up, it'll be over soon." She scolded while Harry scowled at her.

Soon though the sorting was done and the aged headmaster of Hogwarts made his way to a podium.

"Greetings let me welcome our new students to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, and to our older students welcome back to another year." The old man greeted.

"I should mention to you though that this year unfortunately quidditch matches between houses will be canceled." The headmaster announced, to the outrage of most of the student body.

"That's rubbish!" was some of the shouts that rang out from the crowd.

"This year Hogwarts has the privilege to host an international competition." He explained.

"In the past, Hogwarts has held a competition with two other schools, those being Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. This competition was known as the Tri-wizard cup, this past year negotiations have been underway to re-establish the competition. It was agreed that the competition had too high a death rate and instead the ministry has started a new competition. One that involves other magical schools around the world."

"This year Hogwarts will be playing host to students from the Salem magical school in the USA, Beauxbatons in France, Durmstrang in Bulgaria and the Albanian school for magical learning." Dumbledore added.

"Teams from these schools as well as Hogwarts will be competing in the international wizard youth cup, which will provide the winning team with 35,000 galleons as a first prize." The headmaster announced, as the hall was swept in complete uproar by all the students.

"Each team will include five students and as per the rules, only fourth year students and above may participate, the applications for teams will open when we are joined by the other schools." He explained to the now over excited school.

"Are you going to participate?" Roger asked Harry.

"No thanks. I have enough trouble as it is." Harry answered as the Cho and Lisa laughed.

"Attention!" the headmaster shouted trying to calm the students.

"At the same time, I would like to introduce to the school our new defense against the dark arts professor Alastor Moody." The headmaster announced silencing the crowd.

Harry frowned in irritation at the announcement of a new defense teacher; Hogwarts had finally gotten a good defense against the dark arts teacher last year in Remus Lupin. Harry was ecstatic when he had found out Lupin would be teaching. In the end the whole school enjoyed the lesson, somehow though Nott found out about Remus's furry little problem he told his parents and the Notts complained to the board sparking a tidal wave of complains that in the end led to Remus's resignation.

"At least we got an actual Auror as a teacher." Harry thought morbidly.

* * *

Harry's first defense against the dark arts lesson was probably one of the most exciting lessons the students had had for their four years in Hogwarts.

Professor Moody, or Mad Eye Moody as he was more commonly known had begun instructing them on defense against curses.

"I've seen the topics you've covered, and i notice that your ahead in defense against creatures. But your horribly behind on your spells." Moody griped.

"Now then what do you know about the three unforgivable curses." He asked, as Lisa began waving her hand around like a maniac.

"Turpin." He said.

"the three unforgivable curses are the Cruciatus curse, the Imperius curse and the killing curse." She answered.

"very good 10 points to Ravenclaw, now then anyone who performs these spells fully earns themselves a place in Azkaban." The hardened auror answered.

"Now tell me do you know what makes these spells unforgivable?" he asked.

"The fact that in order to cast these spells you must fell and desire to cast the spell, meaning for the Cruciatus you must want your target to suffer, for the killing curse you must want your target to die. To use these spells you must use the power and the intention, that is why it is forbidden." He explained, while demonstrating the spell on large spiders he kept in a jar.

"I need a volunteer." He asked, as Lisa once again waved her hand like a women possessed.

"Alright Turpin come up." He asked, as Lisa made her way up to the front of the class.

"I'm going to cast the imperious on you try to fight me off." Moody said, as Lisa sputtered in indignation.

"What! But i thought you said it would earn you a place in Azkaban." Lisa sputtered.

"You have to experience the curse to be able to fight it, constant vigilance!" he shouted, before Lisa nodded resignedly, probably regretting her participation for the first time in her life.

Needless to say Mad Eye Moody's lessons soon became the most talked about lessons in the entire school, it wasn't everyday that a teacher would go about cursing his students.

* * *

Weeks passed as the expected arrival date of the new schools was expected, Harry was once again with Daphne in the library as her helped her with history of magic. Quidditch and practices by default may have been canceled, but they saw no reason to deviate from their routine. They had been meeting up for the past year as although they both didn't admit it, they had begun to enjoy each others company.

"You forgot about the goblin rebellion." Harry commented, while he read her assignment.

Daphne groaned, "Which one? There's like twenty rebellions."

"The latest one of course." Harry chided.

"I hate this subject." She muttered as she slumped, resting her forehead on the table.

Harry smiled, the girl didn't show this side to anyone other than those in their immediate group of friends but at times she could be so damn cute.

"Maybe we should take a take a break?" Harry asked, as Daphne lit up at the thought.

"When do you think the other schools are going to show up?" she asked, pleased at the chance for a distraction.

"They were supposed to arrive some time today or maybe tomorrow so I guess we'll be able to skip some lessons." Harry laughed brightly.

"I dare you to say that in front of Lisa." She giggled.

Harry smiled; Daphne truly did have an angelic laugh if only she would laugh more often, those who heard her laugh would never call her an ice princess.

"She's not that bad anymore she's mellowed out somewhat." Harry joked.

The duo's attention was turned to a huge raucous in the halls though as students exclaimed in shock and awe.

"Maybe we should stop for today." Harry said, while pointing to the door.

Daphne nodded in agreement, before the duo made their way out of the library.

As they made their way to the side of the hallway that overlooked the entire great lake a huge amount of students were watching the arrival of the other competing schools.

"Well i guess their here." Harry commented, watching as a huge ship burst through the surface of the lake.

The ship was obviously magical, seeing as it just popped up in an enclosed lake, the ship was huge with several masts while the ship itself had a skeletal design. If you looked closely you could just make out people coming out to the deck of the ship probably preparing to dock the ship.

Harry had no time to completely appreciate the ship though before the stunned expressions of the students turned his attentions to the sky as a small dot could be seen which was slowly approaching the school.

After a few moments it soon became apparent that the thing approaching was far larger then a dot as the students soon saw a carriage drawn by several flying horses approaching the castle.

As Harry looked closer he noticed that the carriage was being drawn by Abraxans, they were large huge horses that were mainly white in color. Harry glanced at the powder blue carriage that was being pulled by the carriage, it looked just like the grand carriages royalty commonly used, decorated with garlands cherub statues and painted panels, it made an impressive sight and was most definitely enlarged on the inside.

It seemed that all the competing schools had decided to turn up at the same time though as two huge doors burst from the ground. The door was framed with marble bricks, while the door itself was made out of rosewood and with an intricate design carved into the wood. The door opened as students began walking through the door way into the school.

Harry didn't see any other groups appearing though, and listening to the old man, there was supposed to be at least four other schools joining them.

"Well then, I guess there's going to be a few guests joining us for dinner." Daphne commented.

Harry chuckled, as he turned his concerns aside.

"Well lets go then." He commented, as he and Daphne walked towards the great hall.

* * *

The great hall was in complete anarchy as the students of Hogwarts from first to seventh year awaited the entrance of their guests for the year. Almost everyone in the school had seen the grand entrance of the schools and was now waiting for their first glance at the students.

Roger had informed Harry that he had seen the last group of students enter the school through the front gates. It seemed that they had port keyed into Hogmeads before walking into the castle.

The hall soon fell into silence though as Albus Dumbledore made his way up to his podium.

"As I'm sure all of you know, the other schools competing in the competition have just arrived this evening." Dumbledore explained.

Seeing as there were no comments Dumbledore decided to continue, "now then, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the schools participating in the international wizards youth cup along with us."

"First, DUMSTRANG!" He announced, as the door burst open. The students watched in awe as students wearing large brown overcoats entered the hall, some of them were holding sticks which when they knocked them against the ground sent sparks flying. The students watched awestruck as the group of 40 durmstrang students made their way to the front of the hall,led by Victor Krum. Some of the students gasped in surprise as they recognized the quidditch superstar walking with his schoolmates.

After their head master, who Dumbledore referred to as Karkarov chatted with Dumbledore for a moment, the entire group moved to join Slytherin house.

"Now then, i hope you show as much of a welcome to our next school BEAUXBATONS!" he announced, as the students of Beauxbatons entered the great hall led by their headmistress, who Harry guessed was as large as Hagrid.

The students from Beauxbatons were dressed in light blue silk with their clothes properly hugging them at the hips and waist, Harry chuckled when he noticed some of the male student body from both Hogwarts and Durmstrang. Harry actually Choked on his pumpkin juice when he saw Cho stare menacingly at Cedric. Harry paused though when he noticed that Roger was not laughing at him much, in fact Roger was pretty much staring at one girl in particular. Harry frowned, unleashing his magical sense, he found the one that Roger was looking at. It was soon obvious that she was not completely human, Harry guessed part Veela. Looking at Roger though he was curious, unlike some of the other students though Roger was staring at her not with a glazed but with a focused expression in his eye. Harry thought it would be better to discuss this with him better.

The Beauxbatons students soon made their way to the raven claw table, sitting down at the extended end before Dumbledore walked up to his podium once again.

"Next we have the represents from the American school of magic Salem!" he announced, as students from Salem entered the hall.

Surprisingly though the students unlike those from European schools were not wearing a uniform but their own clothes. After the same brief chat between headmasters the students made their way to the Griffindor table.

Then the last school entered the great hall, the school for magical learning in Albania, as the students filed into the great hall Harry watched the students walk in confidently, the students were really pale some of whom could even pass for albino. Out of all the schools though it was obvious that the Albanian school had sent the smallest group with only 10 students in total

The hall with an increase in population by about 100 students was far rowdier then usual, although even Harry had to admit that he was rather excited at the thought.

* * *

Far away from Hogwarts though there was a dark lard who was also in a rather joyous mood,

"Quiriniuss, have our people made their way into Hogwarts?" Voldermort asked.

Quirell frowned slightly trying to keep a straight face, it was far more difficult to talk to a baby with respect even if he was the dark lord.

"Your plan is proceeding smoothly master, Barty Crouch has been in position since the start of the Hogwarts term, while our other participants should have arrived in Hogwarts today." The ex professor explained.

"Excellent, we had better succeed this time, I have waited long enough." Voldermort growled.

"But are you sure we should be trusting those creatures." Quirell asked worriedly.

"We will use them for as long as they suit our purposes, besides they are not actively involved in my return I wouldn't trust them with something of such importance my own people will be in charge of that." Voldermort chuckled.

"They are simply there to prevent interventions and to bring me something." Voldermort added.

Voldermort perked up suddenly though, causing Quirell to turn towards him, "What is it master?" he asked.

"It seems that Nagini is slightly hungry do go and let her out." Voldermort said.

As Quirell went to do his masters biddi,ng Voldermort laughed out loud, with dreams of his impending return and delusions of grandeur fresh in his mind.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the dark lord though, those whom he thought he was using, were currently having a meeting of their own once again in that oh so familiar ornate room.

"Have your people met up with Voldermort?" the distant voice asked.

"Of course, the fool has them going to Hogwarts with his other pawns." The young women growled.

"Do you have any idea what he wants in Hogwarts?" the elderly women asked.

"No, he told them only a small portion of his plan, they did manage to find out that he wants to perform some sought of ritual that should bring him back though." The women offered.

"He had better succeed this time, I grow tired of waiting." A voice coughed.

"The man is nothing more then a wraith for all of his so called 'power', what on earth could he possibly do with that, it is no surprise he has failed twice." The elderly women chuckled.

"Which is why i have sent him some help." The young women laughed.

"Who did you send anyway?" the young man asked.

The women smiled predatorily, "Kaine, Slyva and Nicola."

"Are you insane!" the elderly women asked, immediately serious.

"Every where those three go they bath in rivers of blood, this will announce our presence to the wizarding world, or worse they may draw the attentions of the foundation." The young man chided.

"You may not like their methods but they are by far my most successful servants." She laughed, pushing their concerns aside.

"Besides I did warn them that they should control their... urges, so they should be fine." She added unconvincingly, as the rest of the group sighed irritably.

* * *

A few days had passed after the brief introductions in the great hall, the curriculum this year was Changed slightly as each house now included other students from those participating schools. The professors also taught side by side with other foreign teachers, should they be present. Needless to say the schools and the student body soon begun to intermingle readily.

It seemed that this international exchange, as that was what Harry saw the competition as, a ruse to build international cooperation, was going on smoothly as the students of Hogwarts steadily accepted the guests. Those from the visiting schools soon acclimated themselves to Hogwarts, most of whom were excited to see what the greatest magical school in Europe was like.

Harry and the rest of the Ravenclaws were having lunch in the great hall at the moment, when Harry noticed that Roger was once again staring at that silver haired part Veela.

Harry frowned before slapping Roger on the arm, "I know shes pretty but don't you think your growing a slight obsession with her?" Harry asked.

"What are you talking about what obsession." Roger asked.

"You've been staring at her constantly its a little disconcerting." harry explained.

Roger sputtered in indignation, "I'm not staring at her!" he denied, while Harry gave him a really skeptical look.

Roger paused, "Okay maybe I am staring at her, but it's not what you think." Roger explained, while Lisa and Cho looked at him curiously.

"Okay then why are you staring?" Harry asked.

"There's something interesting about her." Roger admitted.

"You mean she's half Veela?" Harry offered.

"No! I mean she only talks to two other girls, and do you see how the rest of the girls from the school look at her." Roger asked.

"Her name's Fleur Delacour." Cho offered.

"From what I hear she's a fifth year in Beauxbatons, and it seems that most of the girls there think she'll steal their men, so they dislike her. That pretty much means she sticks closely to her friends" Cho explained.

"How do you know that?" Roger asked.

"I was talking to one of the Beauxbaton girls." She answered

"That probably explains her cold attitude." Lisa pondered.

"I mean if most of the girls in the school treated her like that and all the guys are sobering morons cant really blame her for being so cold." Lisa continued.

"Thing is i don't think shes really that cold." Roger thought.

"What makes you say that?" Harry asked.

"She acts just like Daphne does to people she's not so familiar with." Roger offered, Harry nodded understanding while Lisa and Cho looked surprised.

"Its possible." Roger defended.

"Daphne acts like that because so many guys try to get close to her for her looks, im guessing that for Fleur its her Veela nature." Roger explained.

"Since when were you the master of the female psychology?" Harry joked, inciting laughter from the Ravenclaw's surrounding him, Roger though blushed deeply and kept his head down.

"I think she just needs some more friends to get her to open up?" Roger added.

"Then why don't you go and talk to her?" Lisa asked.

"Because every time I try to talk to her I barely manage squeak out a few sentences, its so hard to concentrate." Roger moaned.

"Well at least your not the kind to drool all over her." Harry offered, as Roger literally growled at him.

Harry smirked inwardly, he had seen this behavior with Cedric and Cho last year, Cedric had suddenly taken a keen interest in Cho and vice versa. Both of them trying to scrounge out every bit of information they could about their intended, Roger probably didn't know it but he was totally smitten with the silver haired girl.

"I think I could help you out there." Harry offered with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Roger asked, completely interested.

"The fact that your not a slobbering mess near her and only slightly unable to focus means that you should have some resistance to the Veela allure, so all you need to do is to practice some Occulmancy to strengthen your mind." Harry explained.

"Is that how your immune to it?" Roger asked, having noticed how Harry was able to keep his wits around the young Veela.

"Probably." Harry laughed.

"You know Occulmancy?" Lisa asked.

"How did you learn it." Cho asked.

"I learn't from a book, so how about it you wanna give it a shot?" Harry asked, to which Roger nodded excitedly.

"Could you teach me as us as well?" Lisa asked.

"Meh, ill teach you tonight we'll see if anyone else wants to participate." Harry shrugged, as the group made their way out of the great hall.

* * *

In the end it turned out that all of them wanted to learn about Occulmancy, although by far Roger was the most insistent on learning the art. Harry wasn't surprised though that Draco, Tracy, Daphne and Ana had learned a bit already, it was common for traditional purebloods to teach it. So in the end the night saw Harry and his friends in an empty classroom on the third floor.

"So where should i begin..." Harry pondered.

"Alright, Occulmancy is the art of protecting your mind from external influence and penetration. From what i gather the first step is to empty your mind." Harry explained.

"Empty our mind?" Cedric asked, confused.

"Basically you must stop any kind of thought from forming in your head." Harry explained in the empty classroom.

"One common method to do this is to focus on feeling what is going on around you instead of what your thinking about." Harry added, as the group began closing their eyes.

Harry used his legilimancy to test if they were at the level there, he noticed that Daphne Tracy and Draco had easily mastered the skill. Cedric, Cho, Roger and Lisa though were still unused to the concept but were making vast improvements.

"I guess we could move on to the barriers now." Harry commented, after half and hour of emptying their minds.

* * *

After over two more weeks of training in the mind arts Harry believed that Roger was well trained enough to resist the allure.

"So you going to talk to her?" Harry asked.

"If I can find her, it would be a little weird if i did it in front of the entire school wouldn't it?" Roger asked.

"There she is." Harry said as he pointed to a figure sitting alone under a tree near the black lake.

"Come on we don't have lessons now anyway." Harry offered, as he walked to the black lake with Roger in tow. While Lisa and Cho giggled at the interaction between the two friends

As they got closer to the black lake though Roger was starting to have second thoughts about asking her.

"Maybe we should let her have her privacy." Roger said as they finally got a few meters near the tree

Harry sighed, while wrapping his left hand around Rogers shoulder.

"Roger you know im your friend right." Harry asked, as Roger nodded.

"Good, cause sometimes friends need a little push." Harry chuckled before pushing Roger towards the tree.

Roger stopped himself against the tree, his action catching the attention of the girl sitting under the tree though causing the quarter Veela to turn in his direction.

"May I help you?" she asked rather coldly, probably expecting Roger to sputter and drool like all the other young men she had met before.

"Hi." Roger answered stuttering slightly due more in part due to nervousness then her aura.

"Your Fleur Delacour right?" Roger asked, with a warm smile.

"Yes." She said, nodding simultaneously, her tone was no longer cold though as surprise was now evident on her face. Probably surprised that Roger was actually speaking to her.

"Well I noticed that you and your two friends-"

"Marie and Clemence." She added, as Roger nodded.

"Well i noticed that all three of you usually sit near the end of the Ravenclaw table and I was wondering if you would like to come and sit with me and my friends?" Roger asked, turning his head to indicate Harry Lisa and Cho, who were watching the interaction with keen interest.

Fleur smiled slightly, but her smile soon faded, "I don't think that your friends would want to be in my presence." She admitted sadly.

Roger knelt down so they were face to face, "On the contrary they were rather supportive of the idea." Roger smiled.

"come on what would it hurt, give us a chance, everyone could always use a friend." Roger asked reassuringly.

Fleur looked like she was deep in thought for a moment before she nodded in agreement.

"Ill see you later then!" Roger said happily, as he left to rejoin his friends, as his back was turned though he missed the unadulterated happiness that was evident on the young woman's face.

As Roger made his way back to the group, a huge smile plastered across his face, Harry flashed him a knowing smile.

"I guess it went well?" Harry asked, with a knowing smile.

"Yeah! But if you do that again I'll kill you." Roger threatened.

Harry laughed, while feigning fear before he ran from Roger who began chasing him.

* * *

During dinner time at the great hall, the group was joined at their usual spot at the middle of the Ravenclaw table by Fleur and her two friends.

"This is Marie Abadie," Fleur introduced while indicating the girl on her left, the girl in question was rather petite, with her brown hair being cut at shoulder length, the girl had an elfish look to her, that was somehow attractive.

"And this is Clemence Aime." She added, while indicating the girl on her right, who was rather petite herself, with red hair similar to the Weasley's left in a long ponytail, the girl was no less attractive then Marie.

"Hi." The two girls greeted.

Cho and Lisa smiled warmly at the trio, "It's nice to meet you!" Lisa chirped.

"I'm Lisa Turpin, this is Cho Chang, that's Harry potter and this is Roger Davies." She introduced, before ushering them to sit down. As Marie and Clemence sat next to Lisa and Cho, while Fleur sat next to Roger, much to the latter's appreciation.

"So, are you enjoying your time at hogwarts?" Lisa asked, the first to break the ice.

The trio nodded in agreement "It's lovely." Maria admitted.

"The view is spectacular, especially of the mountains, although the weather is far colder the we are used to." Clemence added, as the four Ravenclaw's nodded in agreement.

"Do any of you hope to join the tournament?" Marie asked.

"The tournament participants will be Chosen by their headmasters and staff right?" Cho asked.

"I believe so." Fleur answered.

"Then I guess we know five students who will be participating." Roger chuckled, while sparing a glance at the Griffindor table who were currently mixing quite well with the American students.

"You mean the five Chosen ones?" Fleur asked curiously.

"Aren't they just fourth years?" why would the teachers Choose them over the other older students." Fleur asked curiously.

"They have been trained by Dumbledore himself, so that means in some aspects they are above our students." Lisa admitted.

"What about you, do you plan on taking part?" Roger asked.

"I would like to but that is based on Madame Maxims decision." Fleur admitted.

"You never know, she might Choose you." Harry admitted, as the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"I've been meaning to ask, how do you know about the five Chosen ones?" Lisa asked curiously.

"They are pretty well known, after all you know who was one of the worst dark lords Europe has ever seen." Marie admitted.

"And it's not everyday that someone survives the killing curse either." Clemence added.

"I've been meaning to ask, when you say Harry potter does that mean your that potter." Clemence asked.

Harry twitched slightly, before forcing a smile, "Yes, but not anymore." Harry answered in a slightly controlled fashion.

The girls perked up at that but decided to let it slide, deciding to move on to less tense topics.

None of those at the table could have said that the dinner was wasted though as soon the trio from Beauxbatons would commonly be found sitting with the four Ravenclaw's during meal times, it was not uncommon to even find them with Harry and his friends studying in the library. Draco and Cedric had some difficulty in resisting her Veela nature as they didn't possess rogers resistance or Harry's mastery of the mind arts but they were more or less succeeding in controlling themselves.

Apart from her Veela ancestry there wasn't much difference between Fleur and a normal girl and soon the girl became fast friends with the girls of the group. It wasn't surprising to Harry or anyone else though that Fleur had connected with Daphne especially well.

* * *

Harry was sitting at the Ravenclaw's table at the moment with his friends and the trio from Beauxbatons when Dumbledore made his way up to his podium.

"I believe that this is the moment which all of you have been waiting for, when we announce the students representing the schools in the international wizards youth cup." Dumbledore announced , as the hall broke out into anarchy from both the Hogwarts and the foreign students.

As he stepped down and Igor Karkarov took the stage.

"Participating for Durmstrang , will be Victor Krum!" the Bulgarian headmaster announced first, as the crowd broke out in applause.

As the students calmed down, the head master continued, " Anna Nikita, Monica Schultz, Alex Petrov, and Vlad Mavin." He finished, stepping down from the podium as madam maxime took her place.

"Participating for Beauxbaton will be , Jean-Pierre, Danielle Allegri, Aimee artier, Alexis Rhodes, and Fleur Delacour." She announced before stepping down.

While Harry and his friends cheered Fleur on as the girl stared aimlessly at those around her truly shocked. As the announcements went on though Harry found himself day dreaming ignoring the announcements from the Albanian and American head masters.

Harry brought his attentions back when Dumbledore took the stand again though, "Participating for Hogwarts will be Charlie potter, rose potter..." Dumbledore started, but Harry drifted off though as he realized the five were readily included. Harry was taking a drink of pumpkin juice when

"I would also like to introduce you all to Mr. Barty crouch and Ludo Bagman who are apart of the planning committee for the competition." Dumbledore mentioned.

"Also as the safety of all students is of our utmost concern, we would like to mention that there will be an extended auror presence in the castle, which is why i would like to introduce you to head aurors Sirius Black and Kingsley Shacklebolt, who will be in charge of security in the school and at events." He added.

Harry Choked in his drink, surprised that Sirius would be staying in the castle. before swiftly spitting some of it out, much to Roger's dismay as that was who he was facing at the time.

Those who had seen Harry's reaction had laughed loudly at the sight, especially at Roger who with Harry's juice on his face cringed in disgust before facing Harry.

"I am going to get you for this." Roger snarled, while Cho and Lisa tried but failed to Choke back bitter laughter. Even Marie Clemence and Fleur giggled dizzily at the sight, Fleur though took up a napkin from the table and began wiping Rogers face for him whilst giggling in amusement.

"I'm sure you'll find it in your heart to forgive me." Harry commented dryly, as Roger found that he already had.

"Now that we have covered the administrative side of things, could all participants please step forward for a slight briefing." Dumbledore requested, while indicating a side door, which Harry noticed the ministers and other headmasters were already walking through.

Harry took the opportunity to go and look for Sirius who was standing near the entrance of the great hall.

As Harry approached the man he slapped him on the arm,

"OW!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming." Harry complained.

"Well i wanted to surprise you, looking at your reaction earlier i would say that i have succeeded." Sirius laughed as Harry scowled at him.

"So your going to be in charge of protecting the students?" Harry asked.

"Yeah the ministry's taking this pretty seriously what with that fiasco at the Quidditch world cup." Sirius explained.

Harry nodded, no one in the world didn't know what had happened during the quidditch world cup, it was probably the most widely covered story in the week. As witnesses from all over the world saw the death eaters attack after the competition. The whole event had left the ministry with egg on its face, which probably meant that it had no Choice but to take the youth cup seriously.

"And your in charge of security?" Harry asked, as Sirius nodded.

"We're all going to die." Harry muttered, as Sirius laughed heartily.

* * *

Harry sat with his friends as they watched the first task of the international youth wizard cup.

"Hello and welcome to the first task of the international wizard youth cup." Ludo bagman announced.

"We have a wonderful task prepared for the first task." Ludo explained.

"As you know each of the schools has five participants in a team, in this event all five of them will be going in to the arena. In the center of the arena is a dragons nest, all the teams will enter the arena at different times, in the center of this arena will be their objective these golden eggs." He explained showing the crowd a golden egg.

"These eggs will be protected by different magical creatures, with some of the magical creatures in our menagerie being a dragon or a colony of Acromantulas." Bagman explained excitedly.

"Now then please greet our first team, DURMSTRANG!" Bagman announced.

The audience watched with rapt attention as the different teams attempted to take the egg, durmstrang ended up with the Acromantula nest as their obstacle. Although not as large as the children of aragog, the sheer number of them proved to be a challenge and the durmstrang participants took 18 minutes and 15 seconds to get the egg, where there were awarded 37 points by the five judges.

While Beauxbatons ended up with two quintaped, the creature was basically a five legged spider that had a taste for human flesh, everyone cringed as the creature howled in anger as the Beauxbaton representatives sent several spells at it, the Beauxbaton students got the egg in 19 minutes and 23 seconds, being awarded 35 points for their trouble.

Salem was slightly luckier managing to draw three tebo, a large brown color warthog that had had large tusks and the ability to turn invisible. They had made the mistake that the tebo was running and made a dash for the egg only to be knocked aside by the invisible charging beast. The invisibility of the tebo proved to be a problem and they only managed to take the egg after 20 minutes, being awarded 30 points.

The Albanian students were forced to face a trio of trolls but managed to deal with the problem with amazing ease, needless to say the judges had no qualms in awarding them 39 points.

Then it finally came to the Hogwarts participants, when it was announced that the five would be taking on two dragons, Hungarian horntails no less, worried mutters permeated the crowd.

Once they entered the arena the five split up as the dragon let out a stream of fire that they swiftly dodged, while rapidly casting stunning spells.

Charlie stood still and drew one dragon forward away from the center of the ring, before casting the conjunctivitis spell, swelling its eyes shut. The dragon in the end began spasming rapidly while the five bombarded it with stunning spells. The second dragon started charging at the five, Sean and Neville though had managed to maneuver themselves behind the creature and had begun casted blasting curses at the back of the dragon, pushing it farther away from the egg as Celia dashed for the egg. The second dragon spotted its moving target though and released a breath of fire at the running Griffindor. Rose was prepared for it though as she jumped in between the Celia and the flames.

"_aquariaus tholos."_ She said, as a spurt of water from her wand formed a dome that steadily kept the flames at bay.

Celia continued dashing and grabbed the egg from the floor, to the cheers of the crowd. As with the other attempts, once she got the egg. A whole group of wizards entered the arena to subdue the dragon. The students from Hogwarts were in a complete uproar as their representatives managed to retrieve the egg in a mere 16 minutes.

"Lets look to the judges." Bagman exclaimed, as the judges shot scores in the air. The spectators watched as Dumbledore awarded his students a 9, while madam Maxine awarded them an 8, mark miller, the headmaster of Salem awarded the five an 8 as well, while the Albanian headmaster, Constantine amir, awarded the five another 9, the headmaster of durmstrang gave the five a 6 only though much to the crowds anger.

"40 points! It seems that Hogwarts takes the lead." Bagman announced, as the crowd cheered excitedly.

Harry watched his siblings show with a keen interest, he had to admit that the five had improved greatly under Albus Dumbledore's tutelage, they had advanced far from those eleven year old's that had lost against Quirell. As Harry studied the Hogwarts teams though his eyes turned to the Albanian team, strangely they didn't seem upset, in fact they seemed really happy. Harry turned his attentions to the spectators and noticed that they were rather happy as well.

Harry frowned visibly as their actions didn't seem to sync with someone who had lost the lead by a point. Harry tried to but couldn't seem to shake the feeling that there was something wrong with the Albanian representatives.

**And that's the chapter!**

**For those of you who still haven't guessed im planning for a Roger/Fleur, if there are those of you who don't agree with that choice...**

**well there's nothing I can do about that. (laughs evilly).**

**and to those who wonder why i didnt add in their accents ill ask you to forgive me cause im not really good with that, so just pretend.**

**I was pretty pleased with how this chapter turned out, although ill admit that im not too happy with the first task... but still I hope you enjoyed it and ill see you guys next Friday.**


	10. Chapter 10: a dance? really?

To break out of a shadow

**A/N: Hellooooo everybody I'm back with chapter ten, before we move on to the story though lets talk about those comments of yours. As usual those uninterested may skip past the bold. For the rest of you bear with me for 100-200 words? Lol**

**Alright first subject would be your reactions to roger/ fleur. I honestly liked the way their relationship was developing although I'll admit that the way he acted in cannon were slightly turn offish. I hope you can think of my Roger Davies as a completely different character then canons Roger Davies. In fact to me he was Harrys best friend, the only reason I took the name was because it was easier to remember. I honestly liked how roger was developing, you know the clown who shows he has a softer but more serious side. (If you don't like roger... well there's nothing I can do about that (bows for forgiveness))**

**Next topic is the desire for Harry/Daphne/Fleur. Now don't get me wrong I love the Harry/Fleur pairings but this story was set for Daphne and harry, kind of tough to add in fleur (who I've been building up towards roger/fleur) into the mix. Not to mention the practicality of doing something like that, I mean in the end harry would have to choose one of them, and I don't need the headache from such a decision. And for those of you who ask why can't harry have both; let me ask you a question in response. Those of you with girlfriends and or boyfriends respectively (those without just imagine that you did) would you be willing to share them with someone else? I mean it would be every guys dream to get 2 beautiful women but it just doesn't happen in reality now does it. So ill be keeping Fleur out of the mix. I do have a harry/fleur plot in mind though which I might start up once this story ends.**

**Now for the disclaimer...I OWN NOTHING!**

**Now that that's out of the way... on with the story!**

Chapter 10: A Dance? Really?

The intense excitement over the first round of the competition continued on long after the first rounds conclusion, just as things were starting to settle back down though, professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw house called the house together for an exciting announcement as he called it.

The entire Ravenclaw house from fourth year onwards was waiting in the common room, when the door opened and the diminutive professor headed into the room.

"Good evening everyone." The charms professor greeted, as the Ravenclaws returned the greeting.

"Good evening professor." The Ravenclaws said together.

"Now then, on to business shall we." Professor Flitwick said.

"As you know, this competition is based largely on the Triwizard competition." He explained, as the Ravenclaws nodded in agreement.

"Well the Triwizard competition has a tradition of having a dance, which is usually held on the evening of Yule. The organisers for the competition feel that it would be appropriate to continue that tradition so the Yule ball will be held this year, which is why your letters indicated for you to bring dress robes." The professor continued.

Harry and several of the boys gulped audibly, while some of the girls squealed with glee.

The professor flashed them a knowing smile, "And as it is a dance, it is traditional for you to go with a date, the Yule ball will be held in about one weeks time so that should provide you with the time to look for one" The professor added, with a thin smile on his lips, to the groans and squeals of the crowd.

"Does that include dancing?" Roger asked terror upon his face evident.

"Yes. Dancing is usually a big part of a dance." The professor explained, before exiting the common room, which immediately erupted in anarchy.

"Bloody hell! A dance of all things." Roger exclaimed.

"I think it's rather exciting." Cho giggled excitedly.

"Only because you already have a date I'm sure." Harry commented dryly, as Cho blushed slightly in response.

"At least you and Cedric, not to mention Draco and Ana already know who to ask, how the hell am I supposed to ask a girl to the dance?" Roger exclaimed, as he paced back and forth worriedly.

"You mean girls in general, or are you wondering more along the lines of a blonde haired Beauxbatons student?" Harry asked sarcastically.

Roger cringed as he blushed a deep beet red, "Well, um, I wouldn't." Roger stuttered.

"Why don't you just ask?" Harry offered.

"Yeah like it's that easy, what about you who are you going to ask?" Roger rebutted.

Harry was surprised, it hadn't even occurred to him that he would have to ask someone, a memory of a blonde haired Slytherin crept into his mind though.

"I have no idea." Harry lied.

* * *

The whole school including their guests were abuzz with the news of the oncoming dance, Harry watched rather amusedly as students all around attempted to get dates for the dance. It was rather interesting to watch as the students tried to ask out their prospective dates, more interesting though was when they failed.

Harry almost laughed at the memory of the youngest Weasley male trying to ask fleur to the dance, he had practically ended up screaming his invitation and had run off in the opposite direction before she could reject his proposal. What made it funnier was when Roger had found out Ron asked fleur, the Ravenclaw had spotted the red haired Griffindor in the halls a day later and had given the boy a stare filled with such hatred and murderous intent that the Griffindor had tripped while trying to escape Roger's piercing gaze.

Harry had made a note to store that memory away for when he was feeling depressed. Naturally there were some students who obviously got much more requests then others. For instance, the international quidditch star Victor Krum, who had a whole slew of girls trying to get him to take them to the ball.

The five children who lived were another major focus. Based on the gossip he heard from Cho and Lisa, it seemed that Harry's brother would be going with a third year Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood. Harry had spoken to the girl before and felt that the girl was an interesting conversationalist to say the least. It seemed that Luna wasn't the only Ravenclaw accompanying one of the five though as Justin Steele had asked Harry's sister to the ball, and the latter had agreed. What surprised Harry though was when Justin and Luna had approached him and asked him if it was okay, Harry had agreed readily. Harry had spent 12 years with Charlie and rose after all and despite some of their more glaring faults they were all in all good people. He did wonder when Justin and Luna had even gotten around to talking to rose and Charlie though. Harry was actually glad that they were going together, hoping that the mixing with the Ravenclaws might dampen his siblings recklessness. Believe it or not Harry was tired of having to go and save them.

* * *

This unfortunately brought him to the conundrum he now faced, Harry was currently in the library helping Daphne with her history of magic assignment but found that he wasn't able to focus. The ball was two days away and he still hadn't found the courage to ask Daphne, he had tried but had chickened out at the last minute several times. Daphne, with her perfect long blonde hair and large ice blue eyes was a prime example of beauty, she could even compare with fleur who was a Veela. Harry had also spent enough time with her and knew that she was far more than a pretty face at the same time. Unfortunately this was simply fuel to his already steadily growing attraction towards her, and made asking her even harder. What made matters worse was that he didn't know if the feeling was mutual. Harry sighed irritably, feeling that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"What's wrong?" Harry heard someone ask concernedly, looking up, Harry spotted those beautiful ice blue eyes that showed concern staring right at him and stifled another sigh.

"It's nothing, why do you ask?" he asked.

"Well usually I would be the one sighing and you would be the one looking amused." She laughed.

"It's this bloody ball." Harry muttered.

Daphne smiled at him warmly, "I can understand your problem." Daphne smiled.

"Have you asked anyone yet?" she asked suddenly, a little tension in her voice.

"What about you?" Harry replied.

"No, some people have asked but... I haven't accepted yet." Daphne commented.

"Thank Merlin for small mercies; at least she's not going with anyone yet." Harry thought.

"After all I barely know some of them; I would prefer to go with someone I actually know." She added.

"Then what about going with me!" Harry blurted, not even realising that he had just asked her to the Yule ball. Upon realising though Harry broke out in a cold sweat, while fidgeting slightly.

A look of surprise appeared on Daphne's face as she blushed a deep red, after which she broke out in a huge smile.

"I would love to." She finally replied still smiling warmly.

It was Harry's turn to register surprise before he too broke out in a smile.

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Of course." She answered as she continued smiling.

Needless to say their study session didn't accomplish much after that and in half an hour the two of them decided to cut their session short and make their way back to their common rooms. Harry was pretty much in a daze as he walked back to the Ravenclaw common room, Harry was still in a daze when he finally entered the room choosing to sit on one of the comfortable chairs and stare blankly at the fire. Resting on the chair Harry stared at the wall thinking about how he had finally asked Daphne to the ball.

Harry's thoughts were turned to the door to the common room though when Roger walked into the room a huge smile plastered across his face.

He walked over to Harry and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him excitedly with a manic smile still present on his face.

"She said yes Harry! She said yes!" Roger exclaimed, Harry was finally shaken out of his stupor and stared irratatedly at the Ravenclaw.

"Who!?" he asked.

"Fleur of course! She said yes Harry!" Roger continued chanting.

"You asked her? When?" Harry asked.

"I saw her sitting around the black lake and I just went and asked her." Roger explained, his excitement fuelled by adrenaline evident.

Roger sat down next to Harry on the sofa, sighing contently at the day's events before turning towards Harry.

"Have you asked anyone yet? I hear Lisa's going with Damien." He commented.

Harry nodded dumbly, "I kind of just asked someone."

"Did she say yes?" Roger asked, and as Harry nodded the Ravenclaw once again showed excitement on his face.

"Awesome mate, who did you asked." Roger asked.

"Daphne." Harry mumbled.

"I'm sorry?" Roger asked.

"Daphne, I asked Daphne." Harry said with more confidence.

"And she said yes?" Roger asked, as Harry nodded.

"Well well well, aren't we setting our sights high, going after the Slytherin ice princess huh?" Roger teased, as Harry growled at him.

"Did you ever think she would have said yes when you asked her?" Roger asked Harry.

Harry shook his head, "well it's nice to see that I'm not the only one suffering from that problem." Roger laughed, as Harry gave Roger a stupid look.

* * *

Harry was currently freaking out, it was in the afternoon of Yule and Harry barely had 4 hours before he had to meet Daphne. It had only just occurred to Harry that he was going to the Yule ball with one of the most desirable witches in the school. Roger wasn't doing any better and was actually attempting to read a book to steady his nerves, in fact none of Harry's room mates were in any way calm as they were hours away from meeting their dates.

Most if not all of the girls had taken to staying in their rooms after lunch, as Harry guessed that they were probably beginning their preparations for the ball. It was either that or a joint ploy by all the girls in the school to make their respective dates worry. Unfortunately that was the current effect it was having on the male half of the school.

Harry had taken to pacing up and down while Justin and Damien were playing a game of checkers chess, they didn't seem to notice though that they were currently using chess pieces. Harry had seen Draco earlier and saw the young Malfoy swallowing huge amounts of candy probably in an attempt to calm his nerves.

Harry frowned visibly at his reflection, if there was ever a time, it was now that he regretted keeping such an untidy appearance. His dress robes, which was currently lying on his bed, like his other clothes were bigger than his actual body size as per his usual preference. While his hair was so long that many strands obscured the view of his face. Hogwarts for all of its rules was still rather slack in terms of attire, so Harry hadn't bothered.

"Maybe I should have listened to Sirius." Harry muttered to himself. And just like that an idea came to Harry and he immediately grabbed his dress robes and made his way out of the common room.

Aurors had been positioned and were staying in the castle, of which Harry was looking for a specific one. Spotting his black haired god or dog father patrolling the hallways Harry rushed towards him.

"I need your help." Harry rasped.

"With?" Sirius asked curiously.

"I asked Daphne to the ball." Harry mumbled.

"Really? That pretty blonde haired Slytherin? It's nice to see your taking after me." Sirius said proudly, as he petted harry on the head extremely pleased

Harry frowned, "Yeah well I don't really..." Harry mumbled while gesturing at his attire.

"So you won't change your attire for your godfather but you will for a girl." Sirius asked.

"Pretty much." Harry muttered.

"Fine, I'll help you but that means you had better not go back to your old ways." Sirius muttered, as he led Harry into an empty classroom.

"Alright ill need a pair of scissors and your dress robes." Sirius muttered, as indicated for Harry to sit down.

"Are you sure you know how to cut hair?" Harry asked.

"Do you want my help or not?"

"Fine." Harry muttered.

* * *

Daphne Greengrass looked at her reflection once again, as a tall blonde haired girl stared back at her wearing a green dress that led down to her ankles.

"Are you ready?" Tracy, who was wearing a red dress, asked her.

"Yeah let's go." She answered, as the three girls left the dorm room.

As they descended the stairs they ran into Draco who was pacing worriedly dressed rather regally in green dress robes with silver trimming.

Draco looked up and realized his date had entered the room, Draco smiled warmly.

"Ana you look great." He commented, as Ana smiled in return at him.

"You don't look too bad yourself Draco." She chuckled as she extended her hand which Draco took happily.

"I still don't know who you two are going with though?" Ana pondered as the four slytherins left their common room.

"Well that Hufflepuff Zacharias asked me so I decided to go with him." Tracy said blandly, as the three Slytherin's faced Daphne who looked at them confusedly.

"What?" she asked.

"What about you? You still refuse to tell us about the mystery student you actually agreed to go with." Draco asked.

"Well Harry asked me." She muttered as she felt her cheeks heat up.

"Harry as in Harry potter?" Tracy asked curiously.

"Yes that Harry Potter." Daphne muttered.

Draco and the other two slytherins smiled gleefully, Daphne had grown a slight attraction with Harry in their second year but it soon grew into a full grown crush in a matter of moments when the two started spending more time with each other. It was nice to know that Harry had feelings for her as well.

The group arrived at their designated meeting point and found Cho, Lisa and Roger already with their dates waiting for them.

"Roger actually asked fleur out?" Ana commented.

"I'm not really surprised." Tracy laughed.

"Where's Harry?" Daphne asked a little worriedly.

"I'm not sure, he walked out of the common room a few hours ago and no one's seen him since." Roger explained.

"I'm guessing he lost track of time." Lisa commented with Damien right next to her.

"Who lost track of time?" a very familiar voice sounded out from behind the group, as everyone turned around they spotted Harry potter, although he looked far different then they had ever seen, as the everyone in the group stifled a gasp.

The Ex potter heir was shortened significantly revealing a strong angular face and those piercing green eyes that made Daphne feel as if she was staring straight into the depths of her soul. Harry was also wearing black dress robes with blue trim that seemed to hug his body perfectly showing those watching that he actually had a very lean and muscular body.

"You sure know how to pick them Daph." Tracy whispered as Harry walked up to the group.

"You look great." Harry commented as he smiled warmly.

"So do you." Daphne managed to force out.

"Well don't you clean up nice, is this what you did after you ran out of the common room?" Roger exclaimed.

"Well I would be lying if I said I didn't have any help." Harry answered.

"I guess I need to thank whoever it is that helped you then, although I can guess who it was." Daphne giggled, as she grabbed Harry's left arm, causing the dark haired youth to blush deeply.

"Come on lets go were going to be late." Lisa chided, as the group made their way to the great hall.

"Even at a party she doesn't like to be late." Roger scowled.

"Honestly what do you see in her Damien." Roger asked, earning himself a slap on the arm from fleur and Cho.

"I think we could ask fleur the same thing about you." Cho giggled.

"What's wrong with being on time, that's just good sense." Damien commented.

"Oh god it's like there's two of them." Roger groaned, as the group chuckled heartily.

As the group made their way to the great hall they spotted the participants of the competition gathering outside of the great hall, studying the group as fleur dragged Roger towards them; Harry noticed that victor Krum was dating a certain brown haired book worm.

"Is that Granger with Krum?" Draco asked.

"She cleans up nice as well." Cedric commented, earning himself a glare from Cho.

"Watch it Diggory." She scolded, as Cedric cringed in fear.

"I didn't mean it like that." He muttered apologetically.

As the group made their way past the group into the great hall though it seemed that the participants had started glancing in their direction, needless to say they soon spotted Harry's drastic change in appearance. The most surprised though were his siblings who were standing there slack jawed, with their dates.

Harry waved at them and at his two house mates in particular who were also looking at him, surprise evident on their faces.

"Shall we?" Harry asked, sounding far more confident then he actually felt, as Daphne took his hand as they entered the great hall.

As they entered the crowd turned to look at them expecting to see the participants of the competition, although not what they were expecting gasps still resounded across the room. Many were from the male half of the population surprised that slytherins ice princess had actually come to the ball with Harry potter. Most of the gasps though came directly from the female half of the population as Harry's drastic change surprised them as much as he had surprised his siblings.

"It seems you've made quite an impression." Daphne chuckled.

"There's not much of a difference." Harry muttered irritably unused to all of the stares.

The great hall was completely blue and white as magical snow seemed to rain down from the ceiling as a huge tree remained on one end of the hall while big round tables were found around the table.

Soon the competitors in the competition made their way into the great hall, to the raucous applause of the crowd as they sat down at tables in the front before the meal began.

The house elves had pulled out all of the stops, and had outdone themselves as far as meal preparation went. The entire meal consisted of delicacies from all over the world and everything was cooked to perfection. Soon though, the meal was over quickly and the champions of the schools made their way onto the dance floor. As the entertainment for the night, the weird sisters began playing, the champions themselves kicked of the dancing for the night. Harry watched as Roger took Fleurs hand as the two began to dance. After a moment Harry looked around and noticed that most of the school was already heading for the dance floor. Harry turned to face his date for the night, a deep red blush on his face.

"Daphne would you like to dance?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice even.

Daphne nodded excitedly a slight red tinge on her pale skin, "Of course I would." she said as she offered Harry her arm, for which he took it happily as the two danced to the music.

Harry was suddenly glad that he had taken up professor McGonagall's offer to teach them how to dance. Harry wasn't too impressed with the idea of a dance at first. But now, as he had his hand touching Daphne's while his other arm wrapped around her petite waist Harry could see the appeal. As they danced Harry couldn't help but stare at those beautiful blue eyes, little did he know that Daphne felt the same draw to his emerald eyes.

The two danced happily to what seemed like an eternity as they gazed happily at each other. As the band started playing a slow song though, much to Harry's surprise, Daphne closed the distance between them. Resting her head and 'chest' upon Harry's body, Harry blushed at the unexpected physical contact although he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it. Harry took the chance to inhale Daphne's scent, she smelled like a warm summer spring breeze and Harry was intoxicated by it. After another hour of dancing though the couple found themselves getting a little tired and they decided to take a stroll around the castle.

Harry held Daphne's hand as they walked around the grounds enjoying the decorations that had been put up. It seemed that they weren't the only ones with such an idea though as Harry noticed other couples roaming the halls or sitting on benches. Finally finding an empty bench, looking out onto the black lake they sat down and simply admired the scenery.

From the corner of his eye though Harry noticed Daphne shiver slightly, realising that her dress might not have been thick enough for the cold weather Hogwarts was famous for, even with a shawl. Harry slowly reached his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Daphne tensed slightly at first; before relaxing as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Harry had lost track of how long the two of them had remained seated in that position but he truly enjoyed every second of it. Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end and eventually the increased noise from the great hall alerted the couple that the Yule ball had come to an end.

Taking Daphne's hand once again Harry led Daphne back to the castle, escorting her back to the Slytherin common room Harry's heart began beating quicker and quicker unsure as to how the night would end.

"Thank you for asking me Harry, I had a lovely time." Daphne said while smiling warmly.

"Thank you for saying yes." Harry said with just as big a smile.

As they arrived at the entrance to the Slytherin common room, they faced each other staring each other as silence seemed to reign over the entire hallway. As Harry stared into those amazing sapphire blue eyes, he lost himself as his instincts took over. Harry bent down slowly, hoping that he wasn't about to take things too far. To his surprise though Daphne had the same thing in mind and met him halfway, kissing him while wrapping her arms around his neck. Harry in turn wrapped his arms around her petite waist. They held the kiss for over two minutes although it seemed more like a few seconds to Harry and Daphne.

When they finally broke from their kiss they looked at each other, both with stupid smiles on their faces.

"Wow." Harry stuttered.

"Yeah." Daphne smiled wistfully, flushed.

"Hey Daphne?" Harry asked, blushing slightly.

"Yes?" she answered perking up slightly.

"There's a hogsmeade trip coming up this week right?" Harry asked.

Daphne nodded, "I believe so."

"Well, I was wondering if you would like to go with me." Harry asked a red tinge on his face.

"You mean as..."

"Yes." Harry asked, blushing deeply.

"So what do you say?" Harry asked, as Daphne swung her arms around him once again as she pulled him into another searing kiss, as Harry savoured the taste of her lips.

"Strawberries." Harry thought silently.

As they broke apart again, Harry had a stunned expression on his face, while Daphne smiled happily at him.

"I'll be taking that as a yes." Harry said stupidly as Daphne nodded happily at him.

"I'll see you then." She answered blushing slightly as she entered the common room.

Harry rested against the wall outside the common room stunned at the sudden turn of events. Thinking back to the taste of strawberries, Harry smiled whimsically as he made his way back into the common room.

As Harry entered the common room he still walking in a dazed manner, spotting Roger sitting down by the fire place Harry sat down next to him staring at the flames like Roger, who was still in his own world not realising that Harry had seated next to him.

When the two boys looked at each other, Harry spotted Roger with lipstick on his lips. Unbeknownst to Harry Roger was looking at his lips which also had. The two boys smiled at each other,

"I'm guessing you had a good time?" Roger laughed.

"From what I see so did you." Harry commented, as the two boys laughed loudly.

"Today was probably the best day of my life." Roger pondered out loud, as Harry silently agreed with him.

* * *

Harry muttered angrily under his breath as he made his way to the great hall, he couldn't sleep at all last night after the excitement of the past evening who could blame him. Now in the morning he was in a seriously bad mood.

"What the hell are these people staring at?" Harry scowled angrily, as the constant stares from the students were seriously starting to irritate.

"Do you have any idea how different you look?" Lisa asked, in an incredibly chipper mood, as Damien walked beside her.

"Not to mention that you went to the ball last night with Daphne." Cho pointed out.

"Still, you look good." Roger laughed, earning him a growl from Harry.

Harry's mood improved quickly though as he spotted their four Slytherin friends, or more importantly Daphne. It seemed that she spotted Harry too though as she smiled at him brightly, while the group of slytherins walked up towards them.

"So how was the ball last night?" Draco asked.

"It was fine." Roger and Harry answered at the same time, a slight red tinge appearing on their cheeks.

"Judging by how Daphne was acting when she got back at the common room I highly doubt that it was just 'fine'." Tracy smiled slyly.

Lisa and Cho perked up at that, "What, how?" Cho asked curiously.

Daphne blushed deeply at that, "Tracy don't you dare!" she exclaimed.

"She had a huge smile plastered across her face the whole night! When Nott confronted her about going with Harry instead of him she didn't say or do anything, she just kept smiling. She creeped him out so badly he just walked off." Ana added, while wrapping her around Harry's shoulder.

"So Harry what did you do to melt our ice princess hmmm?" the Zambini heiress joked cheekily as Harry and Daphne blushed slightly.

"Control her Draco." Harry whined.

Draco though just looked on amusedly, "I don't really have any control over her really." He chuckled eliciting a laugh from the group, while Harry grumbled about irritating purebloods. Before they could enter the great hall though, Harry felt a hand on his back as someone shoved him out of the way.

"Move it potter!" Sean Michaels growled, as he made his way into the great hall followed swiftly by his the other Griffindor's.

"What the hell is his problem?" Harry wondered out loud.

"Well, you know how I told you some other people asked me to the ball before you did?" Daphne asked, a little worriedly.

"Yes? Why?" Harry answered.

"Well Sean was one of those that asked me." She explained.

"What?"

"Well he did always have a slight crush on her." Roger commented.

"Still that's no reason to act like that." Harry muttered, but soon stopped as Daphne kissed him on the cheek, while Roger and Draco whistled amusedly.

"I'm sorry about that." She smiled.

"I'll be fine." Harry answered mechanically, as Daphne flashed him another one of her smiles before the four slytherins made their way to their table.

"Your moods improved greatly." Roger commented.

"I don't want to hear that from you." Harry growled as he indicated a certain blonde haired beauxbaton student, who seemed to be looking for someone.

"I think she's looking for you." Harry smiled slyly, as Roger sputtered in shock while walking towards the table, albeit a little unevenly. Watching this Cho and Lisa laughed amusedly at the sight while Harry looked on with amusement.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Harry though there was someone staring at him and his friends, while said person sat at the Griffindor table staring at him with hateful eyes.

"Sean stop staring." Rose chided.

"What does Daphne see in him?" Sean snarled.

"He IS the top student every year." Charlie offered.

"He doesn't even pay attention in class." Hermione muttered offended at the fact that Harry was regarded as the smartest student of their year.

Charlie and rose looked at each other worriedly, they had known that Sean had a crush on Daphne for a long time; needless to say they didn't expect that Daphne would actually turn him down and go with Harry of all people.

"Come on Sean she's just a Slytherin she's not worth your time." Ron answered.

He stopped though as Charlie elbowed him in the ribs painfully, "Ow!" Ron exclaimed.

"Shut up." Charlie hissed.

"Well there is something you could do if you want him to stay away from Daphne." Celia pondered.

"What?" Sean asked excitedly.

"Remember those pure blood society books dad and mum made us read." Celia explained.

"Yes." Sean answered.

"Well there was this tradition where wizards who were courting the same witch would have a duel of honour to decide who would have the rights to court her. If one wizard refuse the challenge or loses tradition states that he should never go near that witch again." Celia offered.

Sean began smiling predatorily while staring at Harry, "That is a pretty good idea." He chuckled.

Charlie blanched at the idea, "There's no need to duel over something like this."

"Please there's no way he'll accept he'll probably just chicken out." Ron sneered, adding fuel to the fire.

Rose frowned disapprovingly, "Come on Sean, he's our brother and Daphne does seem to like him anyway, there are other girls for you to go after." Rose pleaded, but Sean wasn't hearing it.

Sean stood up swiftly and made his way to the Ravenclaw table a weird glint in his eye, as Celia and Neville followed him.

Sean found himself facing Harry potter's back, drawing the stares of Lisa and Cho who were sitting on Harry's opposite. Sean watched as Harry potter turned to face him a curiosity evident on his face.

"May I help you?" Harry asked.

"Harry potter, I challenge you to a duel of honour!" Sean announced loudly, making sure that everyone in the great hall heard his challenge, those familiar with the rules instantly perking up upon hearing the challenge being issued.

"I'm sorry? What?" Harry asked.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"He's challenging you for the rights to date Daphne Harry." Sean heard Roger whisper.

"The both of you will have to duel and only the winner can court Daphne." Lisa explained further.

"That's ridiculous Daphne's not some trophy to be competed for! I won't go through with it!" Harry answered outraged.

"Harry you don't have a choice, if you reject the challenge you forfeit any right you have to be with Daphne, it may be stupid but that's just how things go." Roger explained, showing a fair amount of knowledge on the matter.

"Although no one really follows such traditions anymore." He added.

At that moment Harry stood up, as he was face to face with Sean he stared deeply into Sean's eyes, so much so that Sean had to repress a flinch.

"Very well Michaels I accept your challenge." Harry growled, while Sean smiled triumphantly as if he had already won the duel.

It was at that moment though that Albus Dumbledore decided to interfere, "Harry my boy; surely there's no need to resort to a duel." The old man explained.

"First of all, how many times have I told you not to call me 'my boy' headmaster, either call me Mr. Potter or don't call me at all." Harry growled, as Albus Dumbledore and the rest of the school looked taken aback at Harry's harsh tone against the acclaimed most powerful wizard in the world.

"Secondly, he's the one who challenged me to the duel; if you want to stop this tell him to rescind the challenge. And if not then well have that duel tonight." Harry growled, as he left the great hall followed swiftly by his friends, from the various houses.

Harry hadn't felt such uncontrolled anger in a long time, feeling that he needed to calm down, Harry made his way to black lake. Where he walked along the edge of the lake until he found a comfortable spot to

"Are you seriously going to duel Sean?" Roger asked.

"It's not like I have much of a choice now do I?" Harry rebutted.

"But he has been taught by the headmaster." Draco commented.

"What if you get hurt?" Daphne said worriedly.

Harry calmed down quickly upon seeing Daphne, smirking inwardly at the effect that she had had on him.

"I'll be fine, besides I'm looking forward to our trip to hogsmeade so i don't plan to get injured anytime soon." Harry chuckled.

Daphne still didn't look convinced though, "but what if-" she started.

Harry though grabbing the Daphne and Roger who just so happened to be the closest to him, Harry yanked them to the floor. Setting of a chain reaction as they in turn grabbed those closest to them and in the end all of them ended up sprawled on the grass.

Harry laughed loudly at the sight, "come on no sense worrying, besides it is a beautiful day and we have no lessons today, I say we just relax." Harry answered. As the group decided that there wasn't much they could do anyway.

The group then spent the rest of the day relaxing under the sun, the sun begun to set soon though and with that their worries began building up once again.

"Are you sure you'll be fine? He is skilled; the way he acted along with his friends during the first task does show that." Fleur pondered out loud.

"I'll be fine." Harry answered, shrugging of her worries nonchalantly.

"You'd better be." Daphne growled, as the group chuckled in unison.

As the group entered the great hall, they found that it was packed just like any other day. Unlike other days though the common sight of four long tables was not present, instead a long platform stood in the middle of the great hall.

"Cant he at least let me eat first before we duel." Harry muttered.

"Maybe if you didn't growl at him." Draco chided.

"I couldn't help it." Harry whined.

"Well then you're going to have to duel with an empty stomach." Cedric chuckled, as the other members of the group laughed tensely.

Harry raised an eyebrow when he spotted Dumbledore walking along the long platform, "we are here to witness a duel of honour between Harry potter and Sean Michaels." He started.

"May both of you please step onto the stage?" he added, as Harry made his way to the stage though he felt someone tug on his sleeve. Turning around he was faced by an increasingly worried looking Daphne.

"Be careful okay." She muttered, as Harry smiled warmly at her.

"Of course." He laughed before he stood up on the platform as he made his way to the centre where Sean was already waiting for him a cruel twinkle in his eye.

"I'm going to rip you apart Potter." Sean growled a little too loudly.

"You do realize that using my last name doesn't work as well when there are two other people who share it as well right?" Harry responded sarcastically while indicating his two siblings, who were looking almost as worried as Daphne did.

Harry turned around as he and Sean stood back to back, preparing to begin before they walked to the ends of the stage that had been prepared. Harry spotted Daphne and his friends fight their way to the front of the crowd and smiled at them, hoping to calm them down. As Harry reached the end he turned around while taking up a proper stance, looking at Sean who had also taken up a stance.

"You shall begin on three." The headmaster explained.

"One" he started as the hall fell silent, you could have probably heard a pin drop.

"Two" he continued as the crowd watched the two duellists face each other.

"Three" he finished, while the crowd tensed awaiting the beginning of the duel.

"_reducto"_ Sean started, sending a bolt of energy at Harry, who side stepped it easily.

The chosen one frowned before sending an impressive number of spells at Harry including cutting curses and stupefies into the mix, all of which flew swiftly in Harry's direction

"_protégo"_ Harry muttered, as the spells bounced of the shield harmlessly.

"_stupefy."_ Harry said, charging the spell with power.

As the red bolt soared towards him, Sean gave Harry a truly condescending look as if he found it amusing that Harry would use such a spell against him.

"_protégo."_ He announced, expecting the spell to bounce of harmlessly. Needless to say he was shocked when instead of doing that, the simple stupefy spell Harry launched shattered his shield, forcing him to jump to the side.

He recovered quickly but still flashed Harry a bewildered look, that look matched the ones shown by everyone in the great hall at the moment.

The foreign students, especially those participating in the competition had come to see what should have been an internal Hogwarts affair as they had been interested in watching the skills of one of the chosen ones in action. It had been clear to all those participating that despite the fact that the Hogwarts team was made of fourth years, the team was still prime for victory. They had thus come to watch the match with the hopes of building up some information on their competition.

They hadn't been disappointed when Sean had started using an impressive combination of spells and attack patterns. What they didn't expect though was for Harry to neutralize those spells that easily while attacking with such force.

"Why isn't he a champion?" was the common thought amongst the foreign students watching the duel.

The students of Hogwarts were thinking along such lines as well, most had come with the expectation that Harry would have been defeated soundly. Even if he was the top student of the year for three years running, they had still expected Sean to win; after all he was trained by none other than Albus Dumbledore.

Sean for his part was feeling a growing sense of fear in the pit of his stomach, he had expected Harry to chicken out of the duel, and for the eldest potter to actually accept had confused him earlier. Now though he was completely stunned, even though Harry had surprised him by accepting the challenge he had not expected him to have put up such a fight. It wouldn't have been wrong to say that Harry was toying with him at the moment.

Harry for his part was treating this like any other duel with a practice dummy, Sean and the five may have improved greatly but as they were now, even if they competed with him when he was 11 he would have won. Needless to say Harry had also made great improvements in his magical training; dealing with Sean was child's play. The chosen one had unknowingly proposed a challenge in which he would have no chance of winning.

"_repulso."_ Sean exclaimed, as a burst of force flew from the tip of his wand at Harry.

"_protégo."_ Harry countered once again blocking the spell.

Sean was getting desperate, no matter what spells he threw at Harry, they were easily dealt with even the more dangerous spells. While when Harry attacked he was almost immediately led into a corner.

It was then that a thought occurred to Sean, "Am I going to lose." He thought, horrified. He frowned; he needed an opening something that would allow his attacks to go through. It was then that a thought occurred to him.

Using a spell taught to him by the headmaster no less he sent a spell towards the crowd, or more specifically at Daphne and Harry's friends.

"_interitum mundorom."_ He chanted as a burst of black light flew towards Harry's friends.

Harry reacted immediately throwing a shield around his friends who were taken by surprise and couldn't move in time. _"aegis protegius maximus."_ Harry said, as a gold veil of energy surrounded his friends blocking the black jet of light.

To do that though Harry left an opening, which Sean had been ready for. _"obfula _malifactous." Sean shouted. As an invisible blade flew swiftly towards the other end of the stage, heading straight for Harry.

"He won't be able to cast a spell in time." Was what Sean thought, expecting the spell to cut Harry deeply ending the fight.

Unfortunately for him, Harry had honed his dodging skills perfectly, practicing daily with several practice dummies. Harry jumped into the air twisting while in midair away from the invisible blade. The blade still managed to graze his cheek though leaving a cut that was already bleeding, Sean was surprised that Harry had dodged the spell but instantly continued his magical bombardment sending spell after spell at Harry. The chosen one had lost his chance though as Harry had recovered and was easily defending against his spells again.

Harry saw red, not because he had been injured, but because Sean had the audacity to try and attack his friends. Most would have seen that spell as a misfire, but Harry knew better than that. The speed with which Sean reacted to Harry's opening was an obvious sign that his attack was intentional.

Harry had been hoping to extend the battle so as to not hurt Sean or his ego too badly, his actions though totally changed Harry's plan as the dark haired youth decided he would crush the chosen one.

"_accio Sean Michaels."_ Harry exclaimed, as the crowd watched in amazement as Sean flew towards Harry.

When he was merely one or two meters away from him, Harry took action.

"_bombarda."_ Harry hollered as the blasting spell hit Sean point blank throwing him back, Harry held back but expected the chosen one to have at least suffered from a few broken bones. Unfortunately for Sean Harry was far from done with him though.

Harry didn't wait for him to land on the floor or hit the wall before continuing his attack.

"_gravitas confringitus."_ Harry shouted, as gravity seemed to increase on the chosen one thrusting him towards the platform which shattered upon impacting Sean. The force was so strong that it kept Sean pushed against the stone floors of the great hall actually causing the stone to seem to sink inward.

Harry walked slowly and confidently towards the youth as everyone in the room was in a state of shock and didn't even think of stopping the match. Sean was still being pushed against the floor by the spell when Harry arrived one meter away from him. Harry knelt down in front of him,

"Do you yield?" Harry asked waiting until Sean finally managed to squeak out a confirmation, before he released the spell though Harry had one more thing to say to the boy.

"If you ever think of harming Daphne or my friends again, then I will find you no matter where you hide and I will bleed you like a pig." Harry whispered silently as Sean cringed in fear.

"Am I clear?" Harry asked, as Sean squeaked out another confirmation. After which Harry released the spell, while the crowd seemed to have finally recovered from the shock, as Celia and the Griffindors rushed to Sean's aide. A large portion of the hall though still remained their attention on Harry potter, who had left the hall with his friends following right behind him.

One of those stunned on lookers was none other than Albus Dumbledore, 'esteemed' mentor to the chosen ones. One of whom had just been beaten easily by none other than Harry Potter; the headmaster frowned visibly as memories of the fight were still fresh in his mind.

Dumbledore had trained the five intensively after their encounter with Quirell in their first year; it was his opinion that they were the strongest students in the school. His assumption had just been proven wrong by the Ex Potter heir. After watching the duel, the headmaster had no doubt that if it came down to it the potter heir would definitely beat the five in a fight.

The ex potter heir was a complete mystery to the wizened old man, the boy was like a puzzle that seemed to get more complicated just as he felt he was about to solve it. What made matters worse was Harry's outright aggression towards him, the paragon of the light side. Looking at Sean's limping body as his friends from Griffindor brought him out of the hall. Dumbledore sighed wearily, he expected Sean to make an easy victory of the duel, thereby ending any of Harry's rebelliousness, now though it seemed that he would be sending a message to what would be two very irate parents.

"That was incredible!" Roger exclaimed, as the group swarmed around Harry.

"Where did you learn to duel like that?" Draco asked, impressed.

Harry shrugged, as it if it was inconsequential.

"Harry, your hurt." Daphne frowned indicating his cheek.

"It's just a scratch." Harry dismissed.

"We don't know that it could be a cursed, you need to see madam Promfrey." Cho chided, as Harry cringed in horror.

"No! Please anything but that, she'll make me stay for observation." Harry groaned.

"You need to see her." Daphne frowned.

"But-."

"No buts, you're going to the hospital wing." She growled as she dragged Harry along, Harry frowned as he followed rather grudgingly. From the corner of his eye he noticed Roger cedric and Draco giggling, he couldn't quite make out what they were saying but he did hear the words 'whipped' rather clearly.

* * *

Madam Promfrey tsked as she cleaned the blood from the long gash on Harry's cheek, "Honestly the youth today." She griped.

"It's just a scratch." Harry muttered.

"That bleeds like this? I don't think so." She added, as Harry's friends watched on in amusement.

"Drink this." she demanded, while passing him a vial with a weird orange twinge.

As Harry forced the disgusting drink down his throat, she twirled her wand closing the wound.

"By the way you will probably be getting a more serious patient any moment now." Harry muttered rather embarrassed.

She frowned, "what did you do?"

"I may have injured Sean Michaels rather severely." Harry muttered, as the wizened matriarch of the hospital wing groaned audibly.

"How severely?" she asked.

"I might have broken a few of his bones." Harry answered.

The woman frowned at him, while Harry raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"You know about the duel right?" as Harry asked, she nodded immediately.

"Well he sort of attacked them in the crowd and I lost my temper." Harry answered, while indicating his friends.

She frowned, while groaning something about the youth of today.

The doors to the hospital burst open at the same time as Sean was brought into the hospital wing by several Griffindor's who cringed as they noticed Harry in the room.

"I had better take care of this; you stay here and don't move." She moaned, as she walked over to Griffindor's while asking them to lay Sean on one of the beds.

Harry watched as madam Promfrey ran through a series spells and potions to Sean before she walked back to Harry.

"How is he?" Harry asked with a forced smile.

"You broke five ribs tore three of his muscles and fractured the bones in his arms and legs." She chided.

"If I wasn't so upset I would say that I'm actually pretty impressed, what exactly did you did to him?" she asked.

"Meh." Harry shrugged, as madam Promfrey swatted his head.

"Ow!" He exclaimed.

"You can go; I won't make you stay for observation this time." She scolded.

"I've said this once and ill say it again, your bed side manner is horrible."

"Only for those extra special patients." she laughed. As Harry stood up and walked towards the exit though, the doors burst open once again as Darren and Sarah Michaels entered the hospital wing along with Albus Dumbledore.

Once they noticed their son lying on the bed unconscious they rushed over to him immediately worried expressions on their faces.

Harry spared them a momentary glance before he began making his way out of the hospital wing; unfortunately the Michaels soon turned their attentions to Harry, their faces practically glowing red with anger.

Darren Michaels rushed forward and grabbed Harry's shoulder, turning the youth around he made a move to punch him.

"How dare you hurt my son!" He screeched, when he sung his first though he found that he had only managed to hit nothing but air.

Harry's magical sense had warned him of the danger and he had twisted out of the Michaels fist, Harry's wand was immediately in his hand pointing at the man who had tried to attack him.

Dumbledore chose that exact moment to cut in though getting in between lord Michaels and Harry before, as Dumbledore assumed, Harry hurt Darren.

"I want him expelled!" Sarah screeched.

"For what?" Harry asked contemptuously.

"Harry, you severely hurt Sean, that is grounds for some serious punishment." Dumbledore mentioned, as the Michaels looked triumphant while madam Promfrey not to mention Harry's friends looked horrified.

"However if you were to apologize, we could be slightly more lenient." Dumbledore mentioned, this was in part his plan as there was no way that he would be kicking Harry out as Harry had shown to be a great talent and the light side couldn't risk such talent turning to the dark side. Forcing Harry to apologize would be a good way to control him, after which he would slowly put the boy under his thumb.

To Dumbledore's surprise Harry chuckled, as if he was watching something rather amusedly.

"I don't think so, besides you have no grounds to take any form of action against me." Harry dismissed.

"You put our son in the hospital wing!" Sarah screeched.

"Because of a duel which, for your information your son challenged me to. The moment he challenged me to such a duel was the moment the school rules held no sway over me. Besides he was using some pretty dangerous spells as well, so you have no grounds for any of these punishments you wish to inflict. Now I would appreciate it if you would stop wasting my time, good day Mr and Mrs Michaels, headmaster." Harry answered, his tone stating that the subject was done. As he walked out of the hospital wing with his friends, not before waving to madam Promfrey who waved at him in return.

* * *

The days passed after the duel, but Sean was still stuck in the hospital wing, even magic could only go so far. Harry though wasn't really concerned about the chosen one. he had practically demanded the duel and after what he tried to do harry was beyond remorse at the moment.

"He's still in the hospital wing?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah, you really put quite number on him Harry." Roger laughed, as Harry shrugged.

"It was very impressive." Fleur concurred.

Lisa though was deep in thought, "What's wrong?" Cho asked.

"The second task is in three days time; at this rate we only have four people on the team." Lisa pondered.

"Dumbledore will probably find a replacement." Harry muttered, as he felt someone taping on his shoulder. As he turned around a third year Griffindor passed him a letter before walking off, Harry stared stupidly at the letter. As he read the letter he couldn't help but feel an intense feeling of irritation rising.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_I would like to discuss something with you concerning the international wizard cup as soon as possible._

_Yours sincerely, Albus Wulfric Percival Dumbledore_

_Ps my favourite candy is gobstoppers._

Harry frowned visibly at the letter while Roger read the letter over his shoulder.

"I'm guessing he's found his replacement." Roger commented dryly.

"You've got to be kidding me." Harry muttered.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk looking at four of the five chosen ones; he was honestly pleased with his idea. The competition had rules in place that dictated that a replacement could be chosen, Dumbledore was currently pretty pleased with his decision of replacement. Making Harry work with the five was a perfect way to build a better relationship with the boy.

"Are you sure you want him to replace Sean headmaster." Neville asked, he like all the others had been given a glimpse of what Harry could do and honestly he feared Harry.

"Yes I'm sure Neville; in fact I believe he will be arriving shortly." The head master commented.

His statement couldn't have been truer in fact as Harry potter soon burst into the room, the anger on his face evident.

"Harry please sit." The head master said a smile on his face while he indicated the chair in front of him

"Why don't you just ask Dumbledore, and by the way I will not be replacing Sean as a participant." Harry growled.

"But Harry the school does need a temporary replacement not to mention that you do have some responsibility in putting Sean in the hospital wing." Dumbledore stated.

"As I've told you it's his own damn fault for challenging me in the first place, you can forget about guilting me into participating." Harry added.

"You have a lot of talent Harry I could help you develop It." he offered.

"If I participate in the competition?" Harry asked, as Dumbledore nodded though Harry chuckled once again.

"I've seen your lessons and honestly I'm not impressed." He commented as five pairs of eyes stared at him incredulously.

"How would you have seen our classes?" Celia asked rather harshly, although Harry guessed that he deserved that a little what with the state her brother was in.

"You used to hold your classes below my old room, it wasn't difficult." Harry commented.

Dumbledore sighed as his only trump card was shot down by Harry, "Then what would it take to have your cooperation?" he asked desperation clear.

Harry frowned; the old man had to have a reason for his desperation, although Harry had a slight feeling that it was a stupid one. Harry had a strong feeling that at the moment he could have probably asked Dumbledore for anything and the man would have to agree, it was then that a truly delicious idea came to Harry. It was one thing to get something from a powerful man, but to have a powerful man be indebted to you now that was promising.

"I'll join the competition for the second task and the second task only." Harry started, as Dumbledore lit up at the thought.

"But you'll owe me one; I want you to swear that you will do something for me as long as it does not involve doing any direct harm to others." Harry finished as he saw Albus Dumbledore pale slightly.

"Surely ther-"

"That's my offer take it or leave It." Harry answered a sense of finality in his tone.

Dumbledore sighed once again; he knew it was for the greater good to build a better relationship between Harry and the five. The problem was that usually when he thought about the greater good it would be someone else who had to sacrifice something important. He sighed once again when he realised there was no way out of this, so he made a magical oath.

"Wonderful." Harry answered, before bidding all those in the room goodbye.

**That's the end of chapter ten, as usual I'll be seeing you next week for chapter 11, and did you enjoy Harry's makeover? It was an idea I juggled around before writing. After all our heroes are supposed to be handsome and all that right?**


	11. Chapter 11

To break out of a shadow

**A/N: And I'm back with chapter 11 everyone.**

**Now then there's probably only one thing to talk about here the roger/fleur argument. Thanks for all those who reviewed concerning this I must say that you've given me a lot to think about. Since so many of you wonderful readers have such strong feelings concerning roger I leave you with 2 options: **

**The **_**first**_** which is what I was planning to do anyway was to have the roger/fleur relationship ends with the both of them deciding to take a step back. (I was going for this as I thought it would bring some reality into the mix. After all its doubtful that teens are able to find their soul mates so quickly right, there are supposed to be misses and I thought the roger/fleur would be a good opportunity to paint one of those misses.**

**The **_**second**_** option, I am slightly against as it takes much more work. Basically I go through all 11 chapters and swap out Roger Davies in place of someone else. So ill lead this to a vote, it would be appreciated though if those who vote for option 2 give me a name for his 'replacement'.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter. I'm not too pleased with it but hey what can you do, we all have our ups and downs**

**Disclaimer... read chapters 1 to 10 **

**On with the story.**

Chapter 11

Harry muttered dejectedly as he trudged towards the third floor corridor, as he entered a room he gazed at the floor but unlike the last time he was here there was no trap door guarded by a Cerberus. Instead there were seven Griffindors sitting on chairs chatting silently. Harry cursed under his breath once again, when he had made that deal with Dumbledore he had agreed to take part in the second task with them. The old man though had decided that the Hogwarts 'team' needed to have a strategy meeting, as if one day was enough to come up with some strategy.

Harry guessed that they had as of yet failed to notice his presence and decided to stealthily walk closer to the seven Griffindors.

"So where is he?" Sean muttered, cringing slightly as if speaking hurt, Harry found himself smirking at the chosen ones discomfort.

"He doesn't even deserve to be on the team." Ron Weaseley muttered his back facing Harry.

Harry moved behind him as the rest of the Griffindors eyes widened as they noticed the entrance of the black haired youth.

"Would you like me to show you if I deserve to be on the team or not Weaseley?" Harry asked silently, as the red haired boy paled visibly.

"I thought this was a Hogwarts team meeting not a Griffindor team meeting?" Harry asked snidely.

"well Ron and Hermione do have some useful input." Charlie offered.

"I'll believe that granger has some uses but i highly doubt that THAT contributes at all." Harry exclaimed while pointing at Ron, who sputtered indignantly.

"At least we can trust him." Sean commented, he cringed though when Harry raised an eyebrow in response.

"Um moving on, what about the second task." Rose asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"What do you know about the second task?" Harry asked, as everyone looked at him curiously.

"The audience isn't given much information about the tasks until the day itself remember." Harry asked exasperatedly.

The chosen ones shared a glance with each other before Charlie taking out the golden egg that the chosen ones fought two dragons for. After a few moments of twisting clicking and turning the egg opened as music played, resounding throughout the classroom.

"A jewellery box?" Harry frowned visibly.

_I am worth nothing physically_

_But you should still defend me unequivocally_

_Those who succeed rejoice those who don't regret_

_Although I am not a primary concern to your main goal I should not be dismissed easily_

_For I may hold secrets that those who see do not perceive_

Harry frowned slightly as the words played before he reached out and took a necklace from the egg, inside the egg remained four other necklaces all with the same design but with different colours.

"So what do you think about that?" Charlie asked.

"Not really sure, although from what i gather each of us will be given one of these necklaces that we are to protect, although it doesn't seem to be a primary objective it still has to be rather important for them to put a clue for it." Harry muttered, intrigued by the turn of events.

"What do you know about the second task itself?" Harry asked, when he noticed several confused glances hi sighed.

"There was a briefing right?" Harry asked.

"They were rather vague in the description." Charlie offered.

"They only mentioned that we would have to make our way through in an obstacle course.

Harry frowned, "Then what about the first task." Harry wondered.

"They told us we would need to retrieve something." Celia answered

"Then how is it you were able to prepare a conjunctivitis curse for the dragon." Harry wondered, as the seven Griffindors tried to keep their poker face. It was a rather pathetic attempts though as Harry read them as easily as he would an open book.

"The headmaster helped you didn't he?" Harry asked, although it was more of an answer than a question.

The Griffindors tried to play it off but after another moment of silent staring they cracked, "Yes it was the headmaster." Neville answered as Harry pondered silently for a moment.

"And why didn't he help you this time?" Harry asked.

"He said we should work together to figure it out." Celia muttered.

"That old fool wants me to cooperate... with them?" Harry thought incredulously to himself.

Harry didn't pay the rest of the meeting any mind, mainly it was a disgrace to even call it a 'meeting' in the first place. The seven Griffindors simply bounced ideas around, ideas which were pretty much useless as the Griffindors seemed to have some allergy to concentration and would drift off and talk about the most useless things. The only thing that Harry actually learned during the meeting was about the Griffindors themselves, after being given an opportunity to observe them at a close range Harry began understanding the group dynamic better.

Amongst the seven Griffindors Charlie was basically the defacto leader along with Sean, Rose and Celia tended to be the conscience that drove the group. Neville was rather reserved so Harry guessed he was one of the few who injected a sense of rationality into the group. Weaseley... Didn't really bring much to the group and Harry classified him as the third wheel.

The last person in the group, the brains of the show apparently, was the one that had actually brought forth the most curiosity amongst the ravenclaws, Hermione granger had shown a high level of intelligence and learning charisma that seemed to indicate she should have belonged in ravenclaw. After a few moments of conversing with her though Harry had easily found out why the girl was in Griffindor. Under all of that intelligence was a recklessness and stubbornness that could only belong to a Griffindor. Arguing with her was an exercise in futility, as she constantly seemed to believe that she was right and couldnt be persuaded otherwise. One such example was her steadfast dedication to an organization named SPEW. Her desire to free house elves was completely off track as the people she was trying to help didn't even want her help.

Harry had tried explaining things to her and found that he would have an easier time killing a dragon with a butter knife. Her continuous refusal to accept the fact that she may be wrong was probably what kept her out of ravenclaw, as one couldnt learn if you refused to accept that mistakes could be made.

"If these Griffindors are going to be our saviours when voldermort returns we might as well just blow up Britain and be done with it." Harry thought sarcastically.

"Do we even know where the competition is going to be held?" Harry heard Celia asked.

"And now their back on track again..." Harry muttered under his breath.

"I think it's going to be in the same arena" Charlie muttered, as Harry brightened up as an idea came to him.

"If there's anyone who has any idea what's going on it has to be the grounds keeper." Harry thought as he made his way to Hagrids hut.

"Where are you going?" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry shrugged slightly, seeing no need to tell them anything as he made his way out of the room; in truth he was dying to visit the half giant. He made good company what with his fascination with dangerous creatures, and he also made a mean cup of tea, although his rock cakes could break teeth.

Harry knocked on the door, waiting impatiently; tapping his right foot till the door opened and a rather tall and stocky man opened the door.

"Harry! It's been a while." Hagrid greeted.

"It has hasn't it?" Harry chuckled, as Hagrid practically dragged him into the hut.

"Would ya like some tea?" Hagrid asked, as Harry nodded in affirmative he took out a long stick and waved it over the fireplace which immediately burst into flame.

"I see the magic lessons are coming well." Harry commented.

"All thanks ta ya Harry, I should be able to take owls this year." The half giant laughed.

"Still, you picked up on it pretty quickly; it's as if you never lost practice." Harry chuckled conspiratoringly, as he spared a glance at Hagrids umbrella which they both knew had the broken fragments of his old wand hidden within.

Hagrid laughed loudly, a hearty laugh that seemed to shake the hut at its foundations. "nothing gets by you does it." He answered, as Harry laughed in return.

"Have you heard Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"That you're taking part in the competition?" he answered.

"Yes well, the old man on top was pretty insistent that I take part" Harry laughed mirthlessly

"Dumbledore has his heart at the right place Harry, although he does show it wrongly." The half giant laughed.

Harry smiled; Hagrid had changed after Harry's continuous friendship over the past two years. One of the more drastic changes included his new perception of the headmaster. Hagrid may still trust Dumbledore, but he was definitely not the man's puppet anymore as he realised that Dumbledore was still a human that could make mistakes.

"Well I was wondering if you could give me a hint as to what would be involved in the second task." Harry asked slyly, as Hagrids eyes widened at Harrys request.

After a few moments of what seemed like Hagrid deep in thought the half giant immediately smiled happily at Harry before adding. "The organisers have been keepin rather quite but I do notice them bringing in a few doors and contraptions." He answered.

"That doesn't really help much, but thanks Hagrid." Harry answered before sipping some of his tea.

"So what are ya going to do?" Hagrid asked.

"I don't really care, weather Hogwarts wins or not really doesn't concern me." Harry shrugged, before the two closed the subject.

* * *

Harry stood with the other Hogwarts champions in the champion's tents moments away from the second tasks commencement.

Ludo bagman was at the moment addressing the audience while crouch was briefing the champions, crouch looked at everyone ensuring that he had their attention.

He lifted a golden egg before opening it, "all of the members of each team will have to wear these necklaces around their necks, during the second task." He started.

"Each of these necklaces will award the team different values of bonus points at the end of the competition." He explained.

"For your main task though you will have to make your way through a test or logic and practical thinking, each of you will be starting at a separate gat before making your way through an obstacle course." He further explained.

The five teams entered the arena amongst a huge amount of cheering, as they made their way to their respective gates as they gazed at the huge dome in the centre of the arena.

"Well this is going to be pretty boring." Charlie muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"A test on logic..." Charlie answered, as Harry frowned visibly before he smacked Charlie on the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Charlie asked.

"Think for a moment will you." Harry scolded.

"What?" Rose asked.

"The necklaces are worth bonus points." Harry scolded.

"So? Keeping it safe isn't so difficult." Neville asked.

As Harry sighed exasperatedly, "crouch said that there are bonus points for each necklace, right?" Harry started.

"Yes." The four chosen ones answered back.

"Did he say there was a limit to how many necklaces a team could have?" Harry asked, as a knowing look came to the four other members of the Hogwarts team.

"This is part of the logic you're supposed to use." Harry growled irritably, he was suddenly tempted to just stun all four of them and do the task himself.

"The fact that we're doing this all at once instead of one team at a time like the first task shows that they want us to compete against each other for the necklaces." Harry lectured.

The rest of the team nodded solemnly just as a bang sounded and the second task began. As the Hogwarts team entered the dome they found themselves in a narrow room. The group approached the end of the room they found a door with writing over it.

"I am always beneath you but nothing is beneath me, what am I?" Harry read out, but began writing the answer immediately.

"Earth." He thought. While tracing the word on the blank space with his finger. At that moment though the room immediately started shaking violently.

"What's going on!?" Charlie exclaimed as each of the students tried holding on to something.

"That shouldn't happen." Harry frowned, as he lost his balance as he went sprawling across the floor, Harry felt something on his hand, as he lifted it up he noticed dirt on his hand.

"What could it hurt?" Harry thought as he traced the word earth in dirt on the spot again.

Once he did that though the room stopped shaking and the door opened, "couldn't they have found a key that wasn't so disgusting." He frowned as he looked at his filthy hand.

As they exited the room they found they were in another corridor as they made their way along the corridor they soon found themselves face to face with the American team.

After a second of shocked staring the 3 girls and 2 boys of the American team waved their wands and started flinging spells. Rose and Charlie responded with a shield that deflected the spells.

"It seems that they figured it out as well." Harry thought.

"_bombarda."_ Harry exclaimed as an explosion rocked the corridor knocking some of them down.

"_stupefy."_ Neville and Charlie continued, stunning one of them.

Harry went over and grabbed the necklace before dashing through a wave of spells and running through the door followed swiftly by the other four members of the Hogwarts team.

"This is going to be a long day." Harry muttered as he took a break before going on to the next door.

* * *

If anyone bothered to follow the Hogwarts team they would have heard the irritated cries of one very pissed off Ravenclaw.

"I said follow my footsteps exactly!" he growled, as Neville gulped nervously.

"Not that one! The other one..."

"What the hell are you idiots doing?"

* * *

Half an hour later the members of the teams were going through a mandatory inspection by madam Promfrey, with the Hogwarts team being the last on the inspection list.

To Harry's surprise the Hogwarts team actually came in first place followed closely by the Albanian team with Durmstrang in third place and beauxbaton and Salem tied for fourth place.

Hogwarts would have pulled away but it seemed that the Albanian team collected enough necklaces to pull back the gap putting them on even point footing with the Hogwarts team.

Harry sat on a bed as Madam Promfrey checked him over; Harry winced as she swabbed one of his burns with an alcohol solution causing him to wince in pain.

"With all the times you get injured I would think that you would be used to the pain right now." She commented dryly.

"You've been getting rather sadistic lately, should I be worried." Harry commented snidely, earning himself a smack on the head.

"You're going to be fine." She laughed.

Harry looked around and noticed that only the Hogwarts team remained in the hospital wing, Harry frowned visibly though when Dumbledore entered the room followed swiftly by the Michaels longbottoms and the potters.

"Well done everyone, I must say that you have done Hogwarts and me proud." The headmaster.

"Harry I must say that you worked exceedingly well with the five-" He started.

"Never again Dumbledore." Harry growled, as the man looked taken aback.

The potters walked steadily towards Harry, as Harry sighed audibly. He hadn't spoken to them in months and he had honestly enjoyed every moment of those few months.

"What do you want?" Harry asked irritably.

"We were worried about you." Lily started.

"Well as you can see I'm fine, and there really isn't much of a reason for you to care." Harry answered.

"Harry we still care despite the emancipation." James answered.

"No, you never did I highly doubt that you ever will." Harry commented, it seemed that Darren was listening in.

"Maybe because you're not worth it." he sneered, as lily and James frowned at him.

"Darren..."

"You forget that your son lost to this person who 'isn't worth it'." Harry smiled mockingly.

"Why you..." he started, but madam Promfrey came in between them.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." She scolded.

"But." Sarah tried to defend.

"No buts this is a hospital not An arena." She scolded fury in their eyes as the adults were forced from the room.

"Thank you." Harry started.

"Yes well you're staying for observation." She started.

"I take that back." Harry moaned.

"Why me." He started.

"Because I love your sparkling personality." She started chuckling slightly, as Harry groaned audibly again.

* * *

Harry waited at the gates of Hogwarts for Daphne, anxious about what would be their first date. Harry watched as students from several schools exit the castle to visit Hogsmeade. Harry guessed that other schools did not have such visits so it was a unique experience for the foreign students. Harry's musings were turned aside when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around he saw a certain blue eyed Slytherin standing behind him.

"Hi." Harry stammered out, his heart beating at an increasingly faster pace.

"Hi." Daphne greeted, while flashing him that incredible smile. Harry flushed slightly but returned with a smile.

"You wore it?" Harry commented stupidly upon noticing the necklace Daphne was currently wearing. Harry had given her the necklace for Christmas; it was a silver coloured star on a mithril chain. She fell in love with the necklace, so much so that she had 'thanked him' profusely after receiving it. Harry had completely forgotten to mention though, that the necklace was originally from the potter vaults and held rather powerful charms. It wouldn't stop any of the unforgivable curses, but it was still pretty useful.

"Of course I did, are you ready to go?" She chuckled.

"Sure." Harry smiled back, a bubble of happiness rising from the pit of his stomach.

Harry gently took Daphne's right hand in his left before the couple walked hand in hand to Hogsmeade. Harry felt butterflies in his stomach as he held Daphne's hand; the warmth from her hand sent a rather comfortable tingling sensation through his arm.

Hogsmeade was packed with people as the students of Hogwarts and those from the visiting schools seemed to pour into, Harry though hadn't even noticed the crowd as he was thoroughly enjoying his time with Daphne. The couple had visited the usual stores in Hogsmeade including Honeydukes and Scrivencrafts. Harry and Daphne were drinking some butter beer in the three broomsticks when they ran into Cho and cedric who were also on a date. Cedric and Cho sat down at their table ordering their drinks when cedric leaned into Harry.

"So how's the date going?" he asked.

Harry frowned at the Hufflepuff in an attempt to cover up the rather obvious blush on his face, "Shut it." Harry hissed menacingly.

It had the reverse effect though as Cedric laughed heartily at Harry's reaction, "You don't need to worry though I think she's pretty happy with you." Cedric pointed out, as Harry stole a peak across the table seeing Daphne smiling happily.

"I must admit though she's pretty isn't she." Cedric teased.

"Keep this up and I'll tell Cho you said that." Harry joked, he noticed though that cedric paled suddenly.

"Is she that scary?" Harry teased.

"You have no idea Harry." Cedric answered seriously.

Harry frowned visibly while glancing interestedly at Cho, it was clear that he was going to have to watch out for that one.

Harry was slightly upset as it became clear that their date was coming to an end, the couple walked along the outskirts of the town eventually coming up on the infamous shrieking shack.

Harry glanced at the shack with keen disinterest, the shrieking shack was an abandon house that was boarded up and looked incredibly creepy. While the shack acted as an interesting point for many students to Harry it didn't hold much interest after all he knew the secrets behind the house.

Why did it look so scary? Because it was built with the key objective of keeping people away from the house during the full moon, when Remus would undergo his transformation. it was the noise Remus made on these nights that would eventually lead to the rumours of the shack being haunted. It was in this aspect alone that Harry still held that little bit of respect for the old man, for constructing the shack for Remus.

"I wonder what it's like in there." Daphne commented, turning Harry's attention back to his date.

"Why don't we go and take a look." Harry answered simply, as Daphne balked slightly at the idea.

"Isn't it supposed to be haunted, I hear even the ghosts wouldn't go there." Daphne commented.

"It's not really haunted you know." He laughed, as Daphne looked at him curiously

"What do you mean it's not haunted?" She asked

"Do you remember professor Lupin?" Harry asked, as Daphne nodded he decided to continue.

"You heard about his lycanthropic problem right?" Harry added, as Daphne continued nodding.

"This was built while he was in Hogwarts so that he could hide here during his transformation." Harry explained.

"So all those sounds people heard..."

"Was him in his werewolf state." Harry answered, as a look of understanding came to her.

"So? Do you want to go and take a look?" Harry asked, as he began dragging Daphne along with him.

The inside of the shrieking shack had fallen into disrepair, as broken tables and chairs lay across the floor. Daphne studied the inside with a keen interest, the shrieking shack held such mysteries for the students of Hogwarts and she was taking the chance now to understand it completely.

"It's pretty much just a filthy house if you ignore the rumours." Harry laughed.

"Well don't you know how to show a girl a good time?" She laughed, as Harry blushed slightly.

As they exited the shack though Harry found that the shrieking shack did have some benefits, as the shack was up on a hill the view was an amazing one, as they practically overlooked the entire village with an amazing view of Hogwarts. As the sun set it painted the village with hues of yellow that harry admitted made a rather romantic scene.

The couple stared out at the view before Harry facing each other once again, "Well I promised Stacy that I'd meet her at Gladrags" she commented.

"I would go with you, but I kind of have a fear of clothes store." Harry laughed; Daphne though didn't respond with a laugh but instead kissed him deeply on the lips.

When the two finally broke apart Harry stared at her dumbly, "I could work on it though." He stuttered.

Daphne broke out in a warm smile, "its fine, I like you just the way you are." She commented, as it was Harry's turn to kiss her.

Ten minutes later after a few more bouts of kissing, the couple finally left the shrieking shack, as they walked back to the main village though, Harry made a note to write a letter to the goblins, asking them to help him purchase the shack.

* * *

Harry walked back to the castle alone, as Daphne had gone to meet Tracy. Harry had walked her to the store of course, and upon seeing the slightly dishevelled robes the two had on Tracy had smiled at the two of them slyly.

Harry smiled merrily at the memory, while tracking his way back to the castle. It had just occurred to him that he had begun smiling openly much more ever since that night at the Yule ball. His thoughts centring on Daphne most of all, he had only gotten together with her for little over a month but he couldn't imagine a world without her anymore. Was this what it was like to be in love? Harry had never felt such feelings before so he couldn't be sure.

Harry was pretty much new to such feelings, it had become pretty clear that he didn't love his parents, even in the past he only craved their approval it was a pathetic substitute for love. The only ones that could even come close previously would probably be Sirius, Remus and Emilia. These feelings for Daphne were not only new to him, they were swiftly overwhelming him. He couldn't even focus in class, not that he would focus if he could, but one got the idea.

Harry's pleasant thoughts were interrupted when a peculiar smell wafted through the air, the metallic smell was unmistakable causing a frown to appear on Harry's face.

"Blood?" Harry thought to himself, as he made his way towards the source. He soon found himself at the edges of the forbidden forest; he entered the forest unable to control his curiosity. To be able to emit such a strong odour, there had to be quite an amount of blood.

Harry wasn't disappointed as he found himself at what could only be described as a massacre; a pack of Traxians had been completely slaughtered. Traxians were basically magical wolves whose distinctive feature was their left paw which was larger than their right paw. Hagrid had mentioned that Traxians were pretty much docile only becoming really aggressive when threatened. A pack of Traxians would easily be able to take on two to three mountain trolls. Which begged the question, what could have done this?

Harry went closer to scene of the fight, and upon closer inspection of the bodies found that they were all drained of blood. There was a huge amount of blood all over the place but it did not equal all the blood from the Traxians. If Harry's estimates was correct over half of the blood was gone, after noticing bite marks Harry wondered if the killers sucked the blood away. There were only a handful of creatures that sucked blood, but none of them are supposed to reside near Hogwarts.

The bite marks were close to a human's but slightly larger; "Vampires?" Harry thought, as the pale Albanian students came to mind. Vampires were known to have worked with Voldermort in the past, Harry had begun to assume that anything wrong was tied to Voldermort, so it was possible. But the bite marks were bigger than a human heads. Harry cursed; he hated not knowing what was going on, he decided to bring Hagrid back with him. He had no doubt though that something was going on in the background of the International Wizards Youth Cup.

* * *

Harry would continue to investigate along this avenue for over two months, to his surprise and increasing agitation though he wouldn't be able to come to any conclusions. Whoever was behind the attack was being incredibly careful, after he had found out, Hagrid had made it a point to visit the dark forest almost every day but still couldn't seem to even catch a glimpse of the perpetrators. Harry had begun using the marauders map to look out for the perpetrators but to no avail. Harry's prime suspects were still the Albanian students; Voldermort had been known to be hiding in Albania so it was possible.

Unfortunately, Harry wasn't able to discern what they were hoping to achieve here, Harry wasn't used to not knowing what was going on and honestly it had made him slightly irritated over the past few weeks.

Harry sat in the audience, watching the start of the third task in a terrible mood. He had a feeling that whatever was going on would be happening today. After this all of the foreign students would return home and so would the perpetrators. Harry frowned slightly as he looked at the empty seat beside him. Harry leaned forward to tap Draco, who was seating in front of him with Ana and Tracy on the shoulder.

"Where's Daphne?" Harry asked.

"She said she needed to go and get something from the library, she said she would meet us here." Draco explained.

"It shouldn't be taking this long though." Tracy added.

Harry frowned as he watched Ludo Bagman announce the beginning of the second task as the five chosen ones entered a huge maze.

Harry felt a slight nudge against his right arm and noticed a folded paper airplane beside him, it was simple spell work but Harry still unfolded the plane noticing some writing on it.

_Come to the third floor corridor classroom_

_Come alone or else_

Harry frowned visibly at the enigmatic letter, he realised he dropped something though. Upon picking it up though his blood froze. He immediately recognized it; in his hand was the necklace that he had given Daphne for Christmas.

**And that's the chapter for you.**

**I don't know why but I seriously had a tough time writing this.**

**Anyway hope you enjoyed it, and I'll hopefully be able to send up chapter 12 by next Friday.**


	12. Chapter 12: Kaine, Sylvaa and Nichola

To break out of a shadow

**A/N : hello readers, I'm back with chapter 12**

**Now then about the cliff hanger... I'm sorry I just couldn't resist lol, not much to talk about here except to thank you for your kind and awesome reviews and to apologize for being late had a lot on my plate this week.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing...**

**IMPORTANT INFORMATION AT THE END**

Chapter 12: Kaine, Sylvaa and Nichola

Harry stared at the necklace in his hand, stunned. He looked around looking at the security personnel around the ring, other countries also sent their Aurors to assist in security. But harry didn't even know who kidnapped Daphne in the first place. Not to mention the threat of not to contact anyone.

Harry expanded his magical senses, focusing on the third floor corridor harry noticed Daphne's magical presence in a room along with three other magical signatures that didn't seem human. Harry frowned, were these the perpetrators of the attacks in the dark forest?

Harry stood up and made his way out of the arena, no matter how stealthily he moved though it seemed that roger still noticed his action.

"Where are you going?" roger asked.

"I'll go and get Daphne." Harry answered rigidly. Harry's friends felt that harry was acting a bit weird but chose to dismiss it as his desire to see Daphne.

After harry walked out of the arena, away from prying eyes he broke into a run towards the third floor. Soon he found himself in front of a wooden mahogany door, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves harry then opened the door.

As harry stepped into the room he noticed three students, who harry quickly recognized as a part of the Albanian entourage, sitting around Daphne, who was currently tied to a chair with a cloth around her mouth.

"So your harry potter." A girl on the right said, the girl in question had dark brown hair and bright yellow eyes. She had sharp angular features that seemed inhuman to harry, he just felt disconcerted as he looked at her. In fact harry realised that all three of them seemed to emanate the same aura. He had no doubts that they weren't human, harry guessed vampire.

"Who are you?" harry asked.

"You can call me Nichol." another girl on the left answered, this girl had short red hair and black eyes with the same angular features that seemed inhuman. She smiled seductively at harry, who still kept his face passive.

Seeing no reaction she decided to continue, "You can call her Sylvaa." She continued while pointing at the brunette on the right, before gesturing at the boy right beside Daphne.

"And this is Kaine." She finished.

"I know who you are now what the hell do you want." Harry asked, his anger seeping into his tone.

"Why the hurry?" Nichola asked, harry continued staring impassively though before the girl chuckled slightly at Harry's expression.

"We want you." Sylvaa answered simply as harry stared stupidly at the three vampires.

"Voldermort would like you to join him so he asked us to retrieve you." Nichola answered simply.

"Again with the trying to recruit me." Harry muttered,

"If that's all then let her go, you have me already." Harry answered while pointing at Daphne.

"Ah but how do we know she won't go and get help." Kaine started, his smile turned sadistic suddenly though.

"And, I've become rather fond of her, she is pretty isn't she?" Kaine taunted, while stroking Daphne's cheek with his right hand. Harry reigned in his anger and kept his face passive.

"So the only reason your here is for me?" harry asked, as the three vampires shared a look.

"We are in charge of getting you." They answered smiling knowingly.

"The rest of the plan is up to the others." They added.

A billion questions immediately came to Harry's mind as he didn't know what to ask first.

"Others?"

"Rest of the plan?" were some of those questions that came to mind.

As he reconsidered the situation though he realised there was something more going on here.

"Who are you working for?" harry asked.

"We told you, were working with Voldermort." Kaine answered slowly, as if he was talking to a simpleton.

"No, you said Voldermort asked you to, I want to know who your working for?" harry asked.

"And anyone who works for him would definitely call him the dark lord." Harry reasoned, as surprised looks appeared on their faces.

"I can see why Voldermort wants you to join him, although I think it would be better if you joined us." Nichola laughed.

"Do I have to drink blood as well?" harry asked, as a look of shock appeared on their faces. Harry smirked inwardly as he finally wiped the smirks from their faces.

"How did you-" Kaine started.

"It's pretty obvious." Harry shrugged, Harry's interest was piqued though as he was observing Kaine, who's handsome face turned ugly for a second.

"Let's get down to business." Sylvaa continued.

"Hand over your wand." Kaine demanded, sticking out his hand.

Harry frowned slightly; the risks of giving his wand were incredibly high. He could use wandless magic, but to fight with three vampires might be a little difficult without his Threstral wand. There was no way he could trust them, after all there were no guarantees that they would release Daphne if he went along with their demands. But if he didn't listen then they would definitely hurt her, that look that Kaine had given him made that pretty clear. At that moment though, an idea came to him, they asked for a wand not wands. Wizards didn't usually have two wands and harry had kept his wand a secret so it was the perfect plan. Harry then took out the phoenix feather wand and tossed it at Kaine who caught it simply.

"Alright then let's go." Nichola commanded.

"You can't leave Hogwarts, there are wards." Harry said, hoping to create an opening that he could exploit.

The three vampires though, laughed heartily a glint of amusement in their eyes, harry frowned visibly at the sight.

"Getting in through the wards is difficult, getting out though is not as difficult as long as you have something like this." Kaine explained, while lifting up a piece of paper. The paper in question looked like an average piece of parchment. Upon further inspection though he noticed intricate runes and patterns on the parchment, written in what looked a lot like blood.

"Why does it always have to be blood?" Harry thought to himself.

Harry walked towards the three of them his left hand twitching in anticipation, harry had a feeling that the double-cross was coming at any moment.

"Alright ill go with you, now let go of Daphne." Harry demanded.

"When did we ever agree to let her go if you came us?" Kaine asked, as he swung his left hand trying to knock harry out.

Harry's magical sense warned him though and he skilfully dodged the attack, _"pulsus."_ Harry answered as a pulse of magic blew all threw of the vampires onto the floor. Harry took the chance to untie Daphne, pulling her up from the chair harry broke in a run towards the door. Harry heard someone running up behind him, "go!" harry commanded, as brief look of hesitation appeared on her face.

"I'll go and get help!" she said before rushing out of the door. As he watched her go harry was caught by surprise as he felt someone tackle him into a book shelf.

"You'll pay fo-" Kaine snarled as his hands closed around Harry's neck. He didn't get to finish though as harry flicked his wand sending him flying off before crashing on a table.

"Will you just shut up." Harry muttered.

From the corner of his eye he noticed Sylvaa running towards him, harry jumped to the side barely avoiding the female vampire. As he rolled to his feet harry noticed Nichol with her wand preparing a spell.

"_aegis protegius maximus."_ Harry chanted once he got to his feet, blocking a beam of yellow light.

"_incendius adolebit."_ Harry chanted, with flames spewing from his wand and causing Kaine and Sylvaa from stopping their mad dash towards him.

Harry cursed at his bad luck, the three of them were much more of a problem than he had expected. Not only was he outnumbered, but the three vampires were incredibly fast, not to mention strong. That tackle Kaine hit him with had either broken or fractured his ribs, harry seriously needed to stop their movement.

"_levitas levare movere."_ Harry chanted, as all the furniture in the room started floating around the room.

The three vampires looked around cautiously at the floating furniture; harry begun waving his wand as the furniture started flying around. Harry watched as a chair slammed into Sylvaa sending her flying. Harry jumped to the right as he dodged another spell from Nichola.

"_reducto."_ Harry muttered, as a red lightning bolt struck the female vampire in the chest.

Harry cringed though as a chair shattered against his back, courtesy of Kaine. Harry groaned in pain as he felt Kaine kick his wand out of his hand before placing his foot on Harry's throat.

"Give up yet Potter?" the vampire taunted. That was all he managed to say though before he was violently thrown against the floor.

Harry grabbed his wand from the floor whilst his eyes glowed with power; not waiting for Kaine to get back up harry pointed the wand at him.

"_incendius adolebit."_ Harry exclaimed, as waves of flame seemed to bury the vampire.

Amidst the screams of pain emanating from Kaine, harry turned his attentions to Sylvaa who was right infront of him, magic glowing brightly in her hand. She launched the spell as it shards of magic launched at him. Harry didn't have the time to use any spell and instead chose to jump aside. The shards collided with a shelf behind him and shredded the shelf to sawdust, harry frowned visibly he had never seen such a spell before. Not to mention the fact that she used it wandlessly.

"You didn't think that wizard magic was the only kind of magic out there did you?" Sylvaa mocked.

Upon closer inspection harry noticed blood dripping from her right hand, "Again with the blood." He thought morbidly.

His thoughts were disrupted though as heavy footsteps resonated from one end of the classroom. Harry frowned visibly as he saw Kaine stumble out from the flames, with what harry guessed where third degree burns.

"Well aren't you a sturdy one." Harry muttered, as the pungent aroma of burning flesh wafted into his nostrils.

"I am going to rip you apart." He snarled before he hunching over in what harry originally thought was in pain. He was proved wrong though when Kaine's arms suddenly lengthened, along with his back and neck. The sickening sound of bone snapping and bending in ways they were not supposed to made harry feel sick. What made things worse was the sudden tearing of skin as Kaine's handsome face extended outward turning more bat like.

"I think I'm going to throw up." Harry muttered.

At that point Kaine let out a rage filled screech, filled with such intensity that harry cringed in pain while covering his ears, but to no avail as the sound seemed too loud to drown out.

Kaine immediately ran up to harry much faster than he was previously, Harry's face was a look of surprise which soon turned to pain when Kaine racked his chest with his hands that had changed into claws.

Harry felt his blood flowing out from the wound, with one hand holding his chest and the other on his arm harry pointed his wand towards the vampire.

"_aegis protegius maximus,"_ harry chanted, blocking the spells sent from Sylvaa and Nichola. As Kaine rushed like a mad beast towards him viciously pounding on the shield.

"How is it that the book on vampires doesn't mention their ability to transform into giant bat creatures?" harry wondered, as he felt a headache coming on from the strain of keeping the shield up.

"_rumpere perdere fumingant."_ Harry chanted, just as the shield shattered. An explosion rocked the room knocking everyone to the floor. Harry kept low on the floor as he opened his magical senses allowing him to see the cores of the three vampires in the room. Harry identified the one that belonged to Kaine. Harry decided to focus on the transformed a vampire seeing as he was the greatest threat.

"_Fulgeo luximor"_ harry shouted as that familiar burst of blue light burst from the tip of his wand, harry couldn't really see through the smoke but from the scream of pain that seemed to emanate from Kaine's side of the room harry got the impression that he had hit the vampire spot on.

When the smoke cleared harry spotted Kaine on his knees, harry watched in morbid fascination when Kaine reverted back to his human self. One distinct difference though was that Kaine was missing his left arm, which harry guessed was what he had hit with his spell.

Blood was gushing out of the wound as the vampire snarled menacingly at Harry, "I'll kill you for that." He screamed, as Nichola and Sylvia walked towards him.

"That's what you said earlier but I'm still alive, while you I believe are short one arm." Harry answered confidently. In all honesty though he was feeling far from confident, blood still flowed from the gash harry had received from him. The gash in question was so deep that harry guessed that you could probably see his ribs. Harry at this point was mainly forcing himself to keep upright, not to mention the other two vampires in the room. Throughout the conflict the two female vampires had just played support to Kaine, if they had transformed like Kaine he would probably be a corpse at the moment.

Kaine snarled menacingly before taking a step forward, Sylvaa though pulled him back by the collar of his shirt.

"What are you doing?" he snarled.

"There's no point in continuing anymore, we need to get that wound fixed." She scolded.

"Not to mention that there are other people approaching the room." She added.

Harry let out his own magical senses and found that there were people coming towards the room, form the way it looked they were moments away. It raised the question though, how did she know they were coming?

Kaine growled again for a moment before stepping next to Sylvaa, Nichol though spared one more glance in Harry's direction.

"I am guessing that this is a rejection of Voldermorts offer?" she asked.

"It is." Harry answered.

"Oh well at least we distracted you." She laughed, as she made her way to the two waiting vampires.

"Distracted?" harry asked.

"If you want to find out you can always come along." She answered a sultry smile on her face.

"You still haven't told me who you're working for." Harry answered.

"That's a secret." She winked, as Sylvaa tore the parchment in half. Harry watched amazed as the parchment seemed to disintegrate unleashing a wave of magic that seemed to envelop the trio.

Soon harry was alone in the third floor classroom, harry crumpled to the floor. Moments later the door burst open as harry noticed the group of Aurors led by a worried looking Daphne enter. The group looked at the bloodied raven haired youth lying on the floor while harry looked right back at them slightly dazed.

Daphne broke the silence as she immediately ran to him, kneeling beside him harry noticed that her eyes were tearing up.

"Harry are you okay?" she exclaimed.

"I'll be fine; I might need to some help to get to the hospital wing though." Harry chuckled, as one of the Aurors performed what Harry guessed was first aide on him.

"I'm glad you're safe though." Harry smiled warmly, while stroking Daphne's cheek in a calming fashion not realizing that he was getting blood on her.

"Thank you for coming." She answered tears now freely flowing from her cheeks.

"Relax I'll be fine you can't get rid of me that easily." Harry giggled, it might have been the broken bones or the blood loss but harry was starting to feel a little light headed

"And you don't need to thank me Daphne I'll always come for you, I love you after all." Harry blurrily muttered.

"I love you too harry." The blonde haired girl smiled back in return.

"Now I'm going to take a little nap now okay, I'm kind of tired." Harry murmured as he slowly close his eyes.

He could still hear Daphne's angelic voice though as someone began shaking him.

"Harry! Harr...Har..." the voice started fading though and soon he knew no more.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes and glanced at the familiar white ceilings of the hospital wing, "They really should paint a more calming colour." Harry thought to himself.

"Blue... Blues a calming colour." Harry continued.

His attentions were turned to something else though when he felt something around his right hand, cringing as he sat up harry noticed that he was holding Daphne's hand. It seemed that Daphne had fallen asleep, harry spent over ten minutes looking at her calm sleeping face. As he stared though he remembered the words they had exchanged before he had passed out.

"I love you..." those words resonated the most of all.

"Damn blood loss." Harry cursed inwardly he soon remembered though that she had actually returned the gesture. Thinking about it some more harry found that he had meant every word that he had said.

Daphne started to rouse from her sleep though, as she woke up she was greeted by the smiling face of one harry potter.

"Sleep well?" harry barely managed to finish before she jumped on top of him wrapping him in a vice like hug.

"Your awake!" she screeched before kissing him happily on the lips, harry had been happily returning the kiss when he felt some one hit him painfully on the head.

"Ow." The couple exclaimed.

"This is a hospital." Madam Promfrey scolded.

"Now let me check his wounds." The aged hospital matron demanded, as she shooed Daphne from the bed.

"You gave me a real fright." Madam Promfrey sighed exasperatedly.

"Well what can you do?" harry smiled cheekily, earning him a slap from both Daphne and madam Promfrey.

"Normal students come here with cuts and bruises, but not you, you come here with large chunks of flesh missing." She groaned.

"You should be fine you'll need a lot of rest though so you'll have to stay for observation for a few more days." She added.

"What! Why?" harry whined.

"Wait how long have I been here."

"You've been out for three days?" Daphne exclaimed, as Harry's eyes widened in shock.

As harry looked around the hospital wing it seemed that he wasn't alone, "What are the five wonder children doing here?" Harry asked aloud.

Daphne frowned before explaining the other events that day when harry fought with Kaine Sylvaa and Nichola.

"So he's back?" harry asked curiously.

"So they say." She explained, touching on the events in the maze. Where the Albanian team tried to kidnap the four chosen ones, after defeating them the five made their way towards the cup expecting an easy win. The cup was a port key though and transported them to a graveyard, where professor Quirell and several other death eaters were waiting for them. After capturing them the five where involved in a ritual that brought the dark lord back to life.

"So he's definitely back?" harry asked to reconfirm.

"Yes they even showed a memory and the Aurors followed the portkey back to the graveyard the signs of the ritual were evident." She explained.

"But how did they escape?" Harry asked.

"From what I saw they created a distraction and used the chance to get to the portkey." She answered.

Harry frowned, guessing that sure dumb luck was far more involved in the safe return of the five chosen ones than anything else.

"And then there's this." Daphne continued, passing harry what looked like an old newspaper.

Harry read the head line while keeping his face passive,

_The dark lord returns_

Harry read the title and the blurb before tossing the paper aside, frowning as he thought about how the situation had escalated so quickly.

"Fudge actually tried to deny that he had returned can you believe that." She laughed.

"He did?" harry muttered worriedly, harry hoped that the minister wasn't about to be a nuisance.

"With all of the evidence in front of him though in the end he couldn't keep it quite." She further explained.

After the more sombre affairs passed, Daphne began telling harry about the more light hearted things that had occurred while he was passed out. Harry actually found it very soothing, it wasn't so much the information but Daphne's voice that harry enjoyed hearing,

Harry's enjoyment was soon cut short though when the doors to the hospital wing burst open as Dumbledore with Sirius and the other British Aurors following right behind him.

"I must protest to this headmaster, he should be resting." Madam Promfrey pleaded.

"It won't take long poppy just some questions is all." He answered before walking up to Harry's bed.

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave for a moment Miss Greengrass." The head master asked politely, Daphne looked like she was about to protest, Harry though decided that it was the perfect time to intervene.

"Its fine Daphne, why don't you go and take a walk." Harry smiled warmly, as Daphne shot the headmaster a leer before exiting the hospital wing.

Harry glanced passively at the old man as the headmaster tried to start up the line of questioning.

"So harry could you tell me what happened in that room." The headmaster asked, harry though kept his face completely passive not saying a word. Dumbledore repeated the question but harry didn't answer once again, causing weird looks on the adults face.

Harry hoped that Dumbledore was suffering under the cold shoulder; he personally blamed Dumbledore for everything that had happened. He did have access to the wards of Hogwarts and was supposed to be able to know who was a danger. The old fool though had gotten far too confident in the protections on the castle and that had led to Daphne's kidnapping harry didn't plan to make this procedure easy on the old man.

"Harry what happened?" Sirius suddenly asked, to the surprise of those present harry actually answered telling them about his encounter with the three vampires, he did neglect to mention the parts about his wandless magic and Voldermorts desire to work with him though.

"Who were these three wizards?" Dumbledore asked, as harry didn't answer though Sirius realized what harry was doing.

Holding back a smile, Sirius decided to continue the questioning. "Who were these wizards harry?" Sirius asked, as Dumbledore frowned visibly.

"They introduced themselves as Kaine Sylvaa and Nichola." Harry answered easily.

And so it began, a rather long question and answer session as harry had to answer the same questions over a number of times, as the Aurors from various countries refused to do the questioning together. There was one moment where a few of them refused to believe harry though, their disbelief was solved though when harry showed them a brief view of the vampires.

Harry had thought he was finally done when a tall man in a black cloak entered the hospital wing, harry cursed inwardly.

"Another line of questioning?" harry muttered.

It soon became obvious though that this man was vastly different from the other aurors. Firstly unlike the rest, the man did not come in a large group but was completely alone. Secondly, he didn't ask any questions at all; instead he just took a chair and sat down watching harry with a wierd look that harry couldn't seem to identify,

"What?" harry asked irritably after over a few minutes of silent staring between the two.

"Can you show it to me?" the man asked.

"Show you what?"

"The full memory."

Harry considered his options before nodding his head; he took a few moments to edit the memory slightly. Harry took out the edited memory and passed it to the man; with a flick of his wand the hospital wing was gone. Instead harry was back in the third floor corridor classroom again. Harry knew all the events that occurred to he instead chose to focus on the man, who was watching the scene unfold with utmost focus.

Harry studied the man's expression closely, as it changed from passive to shock and then surprise. The man in question had dark brown eyes and hair, he was tall at about six foot two, and had strong features.

When the memory finally ended the man looked at harry, a curious gleam in his eye, "well aren't you an interesting one." He commented blandly, as harry responded with a passive expression.

"Do you know which kind of magical creature you just defeated?" the man asked.

"Look I don't even know your name right now." Harry commented

"You can call me Dante, Dante Caldwell." He introduced.

"Now about my question." Dante asked cheekily, harry couldn't help but smile. Something about Dante just seemed to amuse harry incredibly.

"Vampires right?" harry answered.

"Close. But no those three were Vampir's." Dante answered.

"Vampires?" harry asked confusedly.

"Vampir's, pir not pire." He tried to explain.

"What's the difference?" harry asked curiously.

"You must understand harry that there are two ways magical species are created. The first is evolution; species like goblins are an example of evolving species. The other method though is being created, like the basilisk." Dante began explaining.

"Vampires evolved from the human species as a branch of human kind who developed blood as a main source of sustenance." Dante began explaining, as harry listened curiously.

"Vampir's though were created by demon kind." Harry frowned at that, demons as a whole hadn't been seen in centuries, ever since the dark ages.

"Centuries ago, demons fed their blood to human kind. The blood warped the human physiology turning them into the creature that you fought; they looked human on the outside but were completely different on the inside. The blood granted them an incredible amount of strength and speed, not to mention the variation of blood magic's. Unfortunately demon blood is incredibly addictive and one drop was all it needs to mutate you and give you the mutation. Demon blood is also incredibly difficult to come by and the Vampir's tried to meet their desires by drinking human or for that matter any kind of blood so they were in the end mistaken for vampires." Dante continued his explanation.

Harry continued nodding, "But wouldn't they have died ages ago, demons have seldom escaped hell after all."

"Unfortunately, the blood lust isn't fatal." Dante finished explaining.

"Still, do you know how hard it is to even survive against even one of these vampir's before they transformed." Dante asked astonishment clearly present on his face.

"Alright who are you? You're definitely not with any of the Aurors." Harry asked.

Dante seemed to be in deep in thought for a moment before he started explaining once again.

"You have heard of Interpol right?" Dante asked, when harry nodded he decided to continue.

"I work for an organisation called the foundation, we act as the Interpol for the magical world, we basically combat against dark lords or against other situations when countries request our presence." He explained.

"But I've never even heard of an organisation called the foundation." Harry questioned.

"Of course not! We wouldn't be very successful if everyone knew about us, only the top leaders of each country know about our existence." Dante answered.

"But why haven't you helped Britain with Voldermort?" harry asked, more curious than concerned.

"I correct myself, most of the world's leaders know about us." Dante answered while looking at the ceiling.

"The British ministry doesn't know about you?" harry wondered out loud.

"We tend to stay away from British affairs." He answered.

"Why?"

"Because you have a lot of leaders that are highly difficult to work with, not to mention their issues with control." He added.

"You mean?" harry pondered.

"Not just the old coot." Dante laughed.

"If the foundation is so secret why would you tell me about it?" harry wondered.

"Because I plan to invite you to join us." Dante answered with a smile.

Harry stared at him, flabbergasted.

"What are you talking about?" harry asked.

"You have talent harry a blind monkey can see it, you fought three Vampirs and came out of it alive. Not to mention the fact that you actually managed to obliterate an arm. We only accept the best harry, and I think that you are one of the best, although not as good as me." Dante laughed.

"There is no way I'm that good." Harry denied a little disbelief in his tone.

"Harry those three vampir's you fought are not some run of the mill creatures. The foundation knows them very well; I've seen one of them slaughter ten Aurors in 3 minutes. You fought three of them and came out on top, trust me you make the grade." Dante reassured.

"I'm only fourteen!" harry argued.

"I joined the foundation when I was sixteen harry. To the foundation age is inconsequential we only care about talent and intelligence and you meet the mark easily. The foundation has also started reaching out to the youth as well." Dante rebutted.

Upon seeing the clear indecision plastered across Harry's face Dante decided to increase his efforts of trying to convince the raven haired youth.

"You have a saving people thing harry." Dante said assuredly, as harry frowned visibly.

"How would you know that?" harry asked defiantly.

"You saved that girl a few days back." Dante offered.

"She's my... it's different." Harry stuttered.

"What about in your first and second year? You helped your siblings and I'm pretty sure you don't have a good relationship with them." Dante chuckled, as harry gave him a look of stunned amazement.

"We have a very extensive information network." Dante laughed.

"You want to contribute to the world and you have a tendency to help people, this is how you can do it." Dante laughed.

"Why do you think that the foundation was created in the first place?" Dante asked, after a few moments of silence Dante decided to continue.

"It was an organization created so that we could focus on stopping threats to wizarding and mankind without focusing on any of that political and bureaucratic baggage." He laughed.

Harry frowned as he was experiencing a marid of conflicting emotions.

"We get paid really well." Dante offered.

"I'll have to think about It." harry finally answered.

"if you want to look for me just go to Gringotts and give them this, they'll give you a portkey that will transport you to where your training will occur." He said as he extended his hand, in it was a card that held his name.

Harry frowned but still accepted the card, after which Dante left the room in a quick fashion as if he was in a hurry to get somewhere.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully for the students of Hogwarts, their guests had remained in the school with the only exception being the Albanian students, who had fled on the night of Voldermorts return. The international wizard youth cup had also reached its conclusion as Hogwarts was awarded the victory. Normalcy returned to the school and it wasn't long before the Hogwarts student body gathered to bid their guests farewell.

Harry watched with a passive expression as he watched each of the schools depart, the ship of Durmstrang had already left and the students of Salem had already made their way back through their door. The only school left on Hogwarts was the beauxbaton delegation, harry watched as the students said their farewells. What caught his attention though was the interaction between Roger and Fleur who seemed to be hugging. Moments later, roger walked back to join his Ravenclaw friends as they watched the horse carriage pulled by the Abraxians disappear into the sunset.

"What was going on between you and Fleur?" Lisa asked curiously.

"We decided to take a step back." Roger sighed.

"When you say we does that mean?" Cho started.

Roger nodded, "yeah the both of us felt that way. I think we rushed into the relationship far too quickly, we'll try go back to being just friends and see if our feelings were actually genuine." Roger sighed.

"We'll I'm sorry about that." Harry answered consolingly.

"We'll we can't all find our soul mate that easily no can we?" roger laughed while giving a pointed look at Daphne, a huge grin plastered on his face.

He was immediately rewarded by several slaps by the people around him.

* * *

Most of the students admitted that the school seemed less likely now that all of their visitors had left. The school year ended really quickly as the final exams seemed to sneak up on the students of Hogwarts. Harry was far too preoccupied though to focus on exams though, he was sure he would do well but the exams were at the back of his thoughts. Harry's thoughts were more preoccupied with the card that Dante had given him. Harry had ended up staring at that card almost every single night at a loss as to his decision. Harry was used to being decisive, the only other time he had been this troubled was when he was trying to ask Daphne to the ball.

It wasn't long before harry was back in his home, he arrived at his door step with a newspaper from the daily prophet waiting for him.

The ministry scrambling

The article basically talked about the actions the ministry was taking and it was plainly obvious that they were completely unprepared to handle the situation. It also mentioned actions that the wizarding populace were to take. After reading the article harry wondered in all honesty what the death toll was going to be like in the coming war.

Harry truly realised the emphasis that Dante was talking about when explaining why the foundation was formed. It was basically an organisation put together with the sole purpose of protecting the people, with no bureaucratic or political agenda behind it the foundation was simply there to protect those that couldn't protect themselves. It was moments later that harry had left his home on his way to gringotts Dante's card in his hand.

**And that's the end of the chapter hope you all enjoyed reading it.**

**Now I come with some bad news, I am now being asked to take part in national service for the next two years. This takes up a huge amount of my time and I will not be able to update frequently anymore. I just want to make this clear, I WILL BE CONTINUING AND FINISHING THIS STORY. It's just that updates will be much further apart maybe every one or two months. I hope you're not too upset as I myself don't really have much control over the situation anyway and I hope that I can count on your continued support**

**ChronicEnd**


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